A unified bloc of Hungarian opposition parties has selected its leader to face Prime Minister Viktor Orban in next year’s parliamentary elections.

Supporters of Peter Marki-Zay, a conservative mayor and devout Catholic, are hopeful that he can siphon support from Orban. Much of the prime minister’s political dominance over the past 11 years is rooted in his policy, which reflects widely held, socially conservative views. But in his relentless effort to centralize power and isolate alternate viewpoints, the opposition senses that Orban may have overplayed his hand. The opposition was demolished in the last elections in 2018. This time they’re unified. Marki-Zay offers an alternative to conservative swing voters, hence his support from left-wing voters desperate to unseat Orban. It might just work: the latest polls show Orban’s Fidesz–Hungarian Solidarity Alliance running neck and neck with the opposition bloc.