Orban Won't Sit in Parliament

Outgoing Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced Saturday that he will not take his seat in Hungary's new parliament. He won the seat in this month's election, but his Fidesz-KDNP alliance suffered a heavy defeat that ended his 16-year run as prime minister. Péter Magyar's Tisza Party won a two-thirds majority in the election, which drew record turnout. In a video posted to Facebook, Orban said the seat belongs to the party, not to him personally, Le Monde reports. "I have decided to give it back," he said. Orban, 62, has served in the National Assembly since 1990.

Orban said he will focus on rebuilding his nationalist-populist party, per the AP. "Our task now is not in parliament," he said, but in the "reorganization" of his political camp that he calls the "national side." Magyar, who has pledged to restore democratic institutions and the rule of law, accused Orban of avoiding accountability for his actions in office. The incoming prime minister wrote on Facebook that the outgoing one still cannot "take responsibility."