Andras Arato, the man behind the meme, has reportedly topped an online poll to take on the post
A recent public poll identified the man behind the Hide the Pain Harold meme as the most popular candidate for next Hungarian president, according to The Guardian.
Andras Arato, a Hungarian retired electrical engineer who found online fame as the wincing meme, led the rankings, the newspaper wrote on Monday. Other leading picks included Nobel Prize-winning biochemist Katalin Kariko and Erno Rubik, the inventor of the Rubik’s Cube, it said.
Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar’s Tisza party, which decisively beat Viktor Orban’s right-wing Fidesz this April, amended the country’s constitution to remove former president Tamas Sulyok from office without impeachment proceedings last month, as part of what Magyar called “regime change.”
Shortly after Sulyok – widely seen as an Orban loyalist – was removed from office, the prime minister invited politicians, NGOs, and the public to recommend a successor.
However, a day after making the statement, Magyar nominated Hungarian chess grandmaster Judit Polgar, triggering a public backlash. Critics blasted the hastiness of the decision and stressed a potential conflict of interest arising from her dual Hungarian-Israeli citizenship.
Polgar turned down the nomination, saying that she could not shoulder “the historic responsibility of uniting a divided nation.”
Since taking office, Magyar has moved to clean house and remove anyone seen as an Orban ally, purging the heads of the prosecutor’s office, military, and state media. He has also dismantled the Sovereignty Protection Office, an Orban-era counterweight to the influence of foreign NGOs such as George Soros’ Open Society Foundations.
Orban has accused the new prime minister of weaponizing the constitution and justice system against his party. The amendment used to oust Sulyok was unconstitutional, as it targeted an individual rather than creating a generally applicable rule, the party has argued.
Hungary now has until August 20 to elect a new president, a largely ceremonial role that nevertheless has the power to dissolve parliament and veto legislation. However, whoever takes on the role will face the prospect of being expelled by Magyar’s two-thirds parliamentary supermajority at any time.
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