Peter Magyar formally took office as Hungary's new prime minister on May 12 after assembling a 16-member cabinet in a record 30 days following the parliamentary election.

This was the fastest government formation since the democratic transition, independent Hvg.hu writes. The new Tisza-led administration was sworn in after ministers went through a fast-track parliamentary hearing and received their appointment letters from President Tamas Sulyok. At the end of the day, ministers took the oath of office in parliament.

During the ceremony at the President's Palace, ministers positioned themselves to avoid joint images with Sulyok, as Magyar had earlier indicated that he did not want the president to appear in official photographs with the incoming cabinet.

The rapid transition follows Tisza's landslide election victory in April as the centre-right party secured 53.2% of the vote against 38.6% for Fidesz, giving Tisza 141 parliamentary seats, surpassing the previous post-transition record two-thirds majority achieved by Viktor Orban and Fidesz in 2022 with 135 seats.

Magyar himself also set a record by being elected prime minister just 27 days after the election. The previous fastest transition had been Orban's return to power in 2010, when his government took office 34 days after the second round of voting.

In his speech, Magyar stressed that rebuilding the rule of law and restoring checks and balances would be his top priority, given that legal institutions had been systematically weakened by the Orban cabinet since 2010.

The top foreign policy priority will be to strengthen Hungary's western alliances, he said, adding that the new cabinet inherits a dramatic economic situation. Foreign Minister Anita Orban will serve as deputy PM, he added. 

He described the Prime Minister's Office as the future "streamlined brain" of the Hungarian state, responsible for coordinating the country's political transition.

The ministry will be led by Balint Ruff, a political scientist and former campaign strategist, who pledged to launch "the greatest ever economic and political reckoning”, the “most comprehensive audit and the strictest anti-corruption regulations." In his parliamentary hearing, he put the losses to public funds under the previous government at around HUF20 trillion (€56bn) in the past 16 years. The National Asset Recovery and Protection Office will start work from July, tasked with recovering parts of these assets, he added. Magyar called the new office as the key institute of the "regime change."

Before introducing his ministers one by one, Magyar sharply criticised what he described as excessive luxury spending by the outgoing government. In the past two days, Magyar and a few ministers toured the government buildings in the Castle District, home to several ministries, including the prime minister's office, streaming the event live on Facebook, with more than 100,000 people watching simultaneously.

The Carmelite Monastery complex hosted the Interior Minister and was home to the cabinet office minister, Antal Rogan, who oversaw propaganda and Hungary’s security agencies.

In the videos, Magyar pointed to what he called "staggering luxury," including high-end furnishings, cigar rooms, viewing areas and art collections in government facilities, which he said were financed by hundreds of billions of forints in public funds.

He described it as disgraceful that ministers under Viktor Orban had enjoyed lavish facilities designed for the comfort of those in power while conditions in child protection institutions, hospitals and schools deteriorated and living standards declined across the country.

Magyar's speech in Parliament was repeatedly interrupted by Fidesz lawmakers during the session.

The new prime minister identified healthcare, education, child protection, justice and finance as the four most important ministries, facing the most challenging tasks. These portfolios will have veto power in decision-making.

Magyar again called on public officials and institutional leaders to step down, referring to them as "Orban's puppets" who had significantly contributed to dismantling the rule of law.

The tasks facing the new administration are "historic in scale," Magyar said in his address to MPs, arguing that the government must reverse two decades of division, institutional decline and loss of public trust.

Analysts quoted by Hvg.hu described the new government as diverse and professionally prepared, but raised questions about how effectively the ministers would work together given their different backgrounds and personalities. Former liberal MP Gabor Horn of Republikon Institute said this reminded him of a coalition government.

The government will hold its first official meeting on May 13 in Opusztaszer, a symbolic site in the Great Plains associated with the founding of the Hungarian state and nation.

Before the formal session, officials will consult water management and agricultural experts on current drought conditions, which experts warn could prove more severe than in 2022, Magyar posted on Facebook. April rainfall was the lowest since 1901, and precipitation has been minimal since the January snowfall.

The cabinet is expected to adopt urgent short-term emergency measures while also preparing medium- and long-term water management plans.

According to Magyar, the government will also order a comprehensive, immediate audit of ministries and state-owned companies, and suspend payments and commitments beyond normal operational management.