South African right wing allies lose key European pillar

The defeat of Hungarian right-wing strongman president Viktor Orban may dismay some South African supporters of the broader global conservative network, but the movement’s ideas still resonate in many places, according to a political expert.

Former AfriForum activist and the founder of the Lex Libertas organisation in SA, Ernst Roets, previously met Orban and discussed cooperation and attended right-wing think-tanks in Hungary.

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Orban lost to Magyar after Sunday poll

After Orban’s massive defeat in Sunday’s poll, Hungarians poured into the streets to celebrate, speaking of a “revolution” which had taken their country back.

Péter Magyar, leader of the center-right opposition Tisza party, won by a landslide

However, political analyst René Oosthuizen said the broader right-wing network of which Donald Trump is part – and where his friend Orban was a key pillar – remains influential and continues to find resonance in different national contexts.

“I would argue that while there are pockets of sympathy for these ideas in South Africa, they do not yet constitute a dominant or cohesive political force,” she said.

Orban also a friend of Russia

Oosthuizen said she was concerned that the rhetoric associated with these movements can find traction in societies like South Africa, marked by inequality and racial tension.

Political analyst Piet Croucamp said SA shouldn’t forget that Orban was also a friend of Russia.

“He is a right-winger, but his support came from people who had a preference for authoritarianism as opposed to right-wing populism. He is a right-winger, perhaps a far-rightwinger, and lost against someone who could be described in European terms as also a right-wing conservative.

“It doesn’t detract from the fact that, to a degree, their conservative populism is on the border of right-wing politics in Europe, especially in Hungary.

“To a certain degree, it will be a loss for right-wing populism and right-wing politics in SA, like it will be anywhere in the world,” he said.

Right-wing support in Europe

Croucamp said Orban had support in right-wing Europe as well as Russia.

South Africa’s Ernst Roets, right, with former Hungarian president Viktor Orban. Picture: X/Ernst Roets

Political analyst Daniel Silke said there has clearly been a drift to the right and far right in Europe in recent years.

Orban had been part of that movement from a European perspective and was a major figure in promoting an ultra-conservative nationalist view of the world.

“I do think that you’ve seen issues quite specific to Hungary take place and his defeat in Hungary is a domestic issue for Hungarians,” Silke said.

“There are economic issues and a desire by the Hungarian people to forge closer links with Europe and be less obstructive to the European Union, which was probably one of the main reasons he was defeated so heavily.”

Defeat of broader right wing shift and drift

Silke said Orban’s defeat should be seen as a defeat of the broader right wing shift and drift that has occurred in Europe.

“We are still seeing high polling results for right-wing and ultra-right-wing parties, particularly in France and Germany.

The right-wing cause remains relatively solid in Europe, but a point has to be made that these periods in time, during which either moderate left-wingers or right-wingers take election victories, end in ebbs and flows.

“There are eras in which the right wing does well and then there are eras where left-wingers do well,” he added.

Silke said the world may be at the cusp of the peak of the right wing, which was the more important issue at hand.

World may be at the cusp

“The peak right wing might have been the Trump victory in the US. We are seeing poll results in the US looking a lot weaker for Trump. You are beginning to see some turn in Europe as well, but each country will have their own issues,” he said.

Silke said from a South African perspective, there continues to be a strong performance by rightwing parties that will provide conservative South Africans with a degree of camaraderie or ideological synergy.

The continued upward trajectory of right-wing populists is not guaranteed, of course, no-one’s victory is guaranteed. Even securing victory at the polls doesn’t mean in a democracy that this continues forever and a day.”

Silke said there would also be a fightback from more centralist or liberal elements in Europe as well, which also applies to SA.

“We shouldn’t get too obsessed with a relatively small band of ultra conservatives in SA when the majority of the population are generally centralists, maybe a bit left of centre,” he said.

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