Opposition MP Anna Orosz resigns, says ‘Orbán regime is twisting my arm’

Anna Orosz, a lawmaker of the opposition Momentum, is resigning her seat in parliament and will not run in the 2026 general election.

Orosz said on Facebook on Monday that she felt she had been unable to fulfil her task, which she saw since her election in 2019 as “working in the interests of the residents of Újbuda and Hungarians to the best of my abilities.”

In the post featuring a photo of Orosz at a demonstration, with two policemen twisting her arms back, she said: “I feel I am unable to do that as a member of parliament. The regime is twisting my arm, literally and figuratively, whenever I try to do anything for the voters.”

“The Orbán regime has curtailed lawmakers’ room for manoeuvre until there is barely anything we can still do in parliament,” Orosz said, adding that “the key to toppling the system is that we all leave its framework.”

Orosz added in a comment that under an amendment of the electoral law, her place would be filled from the party list rather than in a by-election, as it is being vacated within a year of a general election.

Orosz’s Facebook post

Read Anna Orosz’s post in English below:

“I AM RESIGNING FROM MY PARLIAMENTARY MANDATE

This photo of me was taken exactly three weeks ago, and I wasn’t happy about it. I didn’t like it because it was painful to see the expression of helplessness on my face — a feeling that perhaps, at the moment this photo was taken, finally became unbearable for me.

During the blockade, I felt the urge to stand up both for the right to assembly and for the LGBTQ community. At the same time, I realised that this approach, unfortunately, is not yielding results. Don’t get me wrong: I still believe we must stand up for our fundamental rights and for fellow citizens who are attacked by those in power. But as a politician, one must do more than just stand up—we must be able to effect change.

This inner conflict didn’t start now. 3 April 2022 was one of the most contradictory days of my life. Thanks to the efforts of many, we managed to unseat István Simicskó from his individual seat in Újbuda, yet Fidesz achieved its strongest national result ever. Since then, as Újbuda’s MP, I’ve focused on fighting against environmentally damaging and corrupt government projects in the district. On a national level, my main issues were child welfare, public education, and child protection.

A few weeks ago, I revealed that Szabolcs Kedves, a former caregiver with the Csaba Böjte Foundation who was sentenced by a Romanian court to 28 years in prison for sexually abusing children, was granted Hungarian citizenship by the Orbán government. I can hardly imagine a bigger scandal just one year after the presidential pardon case—yet again, there were no consequences.

This is where I am now. When I stand up for our democratic rights and for people attacked by the government, the Orbán regime literally and figuratively twists my arms and detains me. This isn’t just about me—it’s about the 70,000 people in Újbuda who chose me to represent them. The Orbán regime’s response to my finding out that the man who received the most severe sentence for child sexual abuse in a Romanian court was granted Hungarian citizenship by Fidesz is: nothing.