• Viktor Orban re-elected as Fidesz leader despite April election loss to Tisza party.
• Delegates showed overwhelming support with 729 out of 737 votes in favor.
• Orban acknowledges need for Fidesz to adapt as an opposition party.

Former Prime Minister Viktor Orban has been re-elected as the leader of Hungary's main opposition party, Fidesz, even after the party suffered a substantial electoral defeat in April to Prime Minister Peter Magyar's Tisza party. Despite the loss, which ended Orban's 16-year leadership over Hungarian politics, he received a nearly unanimous vote of 729 out of 737 delegates at the party's congress, where he ran unopposed, according to Reuters and Al Jazeera.

During his address before the vote, Orban declared, "I do not give up, I never, never, never, never, never give up," taking full responsibility for the party's defeat and emphasizing his commitment to reform the party into a viable opposition force. He acknowledged that Fidesz must transition from being a governing party to effectively challenge the new administration, as it struggles with diminished support in opinion polls where backing for Fidesz has dropped significantly, according to India Times and Reuters.

The April election resulted in the Tisza party securing a two-thirds majority in parliament, a victory that allows for potential reversals of many of the constitutional changes introduced during Orban's tenure. New Prime Minister Magyar's government plans to dismantle institutions previously altered under Orban's leadership, thus placing additional pressure on Fidesz to adapt quickly, as Orban himself noted during the congress, according to Al Jazeera and India Times.