FES BRIEFING WHO’S WHO IN THE FIFTH ORBÁN GOVERNMENT Old and new faces united by loyalty to the prime minister May 2022 Since Fidesz interpreted the April 2022 election as a resound­ing reaffirmation of its policies by the Hungarian public, a major reshuffle of the Orbán cabinet seemed unlikely. After all, as in previous elections, Fidesz’s campaign promise had been to carry on as before. And although that was not much of a policy programme, it did imply a promise that the peo­ple in charge would be largely the same. Yet, Orbán likes a reshuffle, both as a symbol of his immense power over the ruling party and sometimes also as an opportunity to explore new policy avenues, which are often tied to specific individ­uals who succeed in selling the prime minister on new ideas. Gergely Gulyás, the minister in charge of the Prime Minis­ter’s Office, the two ministers who coordinated the vast powers directly concentrated in the PM’s office effectively act as Orbán’s chiefs-of-staff. In effect, although he wields considerable and expanding policy competences, too, Rogán’s main responsibility is political messaging and con­trol, to make sure that the public support behind Orbán’s government remains solid and that Fidesz’s control over the media, economics, culture etc. expands continuously. Gulyás is in charge of keeping the public administration in line and, as a skilful orator, he also handles the press conferences. It is a sign of Orbán’s increased confidence and strength that with Gergely Gulyás and János Lázár the cabinet features two talented young politicians who are considered by many as potential successors of the PM. Orbán has tended to push out figures who seem even remotely capable of challenging him for the leadership of Hungary’s leading right-wing party. At this point, that threat is so reduced that political aptitude is no longer an impediment to high office. As critics have pointed out, one problematic aspect of the continuity in the cabinet structure is the lack of dedicated health, education and environmental portfolios. The subor­dination of these areas is obvious and the fact that they have a vital influence on the quality of life of Hungarians is not reflected in the government’s priorities as it is reflected in the cabinet structure. In fact, it was not even immediately clear who would be in charge of education, the responsibili­ty for which was ultimately split between two ministries. Let us take a look at the individuals who make up the fifth Orbán cabinet, the background of the ministers and the of­ficial and unofficial roles they are likely to fill in the next gov­ernment. THE INNERMOST CIRCLE Antal Rogán retains his position as the minister in charge of the Prime Minister’s Cabinet Office, and together with At 40 years, Gulyás remains the youngest member of the Orbán cabinet, and – along with Rogán – also its most influ­ential, after the PM himself, of course. He has experienced a meteoric rise in Fidesz, since he only started working as a lawyer in 2008, became an MP in 2010, was selected to lead the Fidesz faction in parliament in 2017 and was appointed to his current cabinet portfolio in 2018, succeeding János Lázár. As the minister in charge of the Prime Minister’s Of­fice, he coordinates the work of the entire cabinet. As the main coordinator of Fidesz’s campaign machine, Rogán’s(who had spent a while in the political desert in the early 2000s after implying that Viktor Orbán might not be Fidesz’s leader in 2010 but then went on to lead the Fidesz faction in 2014 before being appointed as Orbán’s chief-of­staff in 2015) position of power is now unassailable. He is seen as having delivered two decisive electoral victories and as having vastly expanded and consolidated the ruling par­ty’s base of power since the party’s anaemic – relatively speaking – election victory in 2014. Moreover, given his lack of personal popularity and the general perception that he could never serve as prime minister himself, he can wield enormous influence without seeming like a potential chal­lenger to the PM, which strengthens his position in a system where all power emanates from Orbán. His own conspicuous and unexplained wealth, as well as his association with cor­rupt figures, have always made Rogán a suspicious figure. But now his newly acquired control over large segments of the intelligence services, including a super-intelligence centre that will have access to information held by the other servic­1