BUDAPEST: Fresh from a third electoral win this year, Hungary's controversial Premier Viktor Orban will have a free rein in his second term to build what he terms an "illiberal democracy," analysts say.
After four years in office, Orban's right-wing Fidesz party continues to ride a wave of support, winning general elections in April, European elections in May and local elections last weekend.
The prime minister has made no qualms about his agenda and has cited Russia, China and Turkey as examples to follow.
Analysts are bracing for more controversy and fresh accusations of autocratic rule.
His latest electoral win "will strengthen Orban's impression that he is an omnipotent politician and that could undermine the sobriety of the government," warned Peter Kreko, director of Political Capital, a Budapest think tank.
Since storming to power in 2010 with a constitution-changing two-thirds majority, the 51-year-old has attracted regular criticism over his unorthodox economic policies and perceived crackdown on the media and judiciary.
Measures to help severely indebted Hungarians pay back foreign loans have angered banks, while "special taxes" have hit sectors typically dominated by foreign companies like energy, retail and telecommunications.
On the international stage, Orban has played a balancing act between the West and Russia, criticising EU sanctions against Moscow over the conflict in Ukraine, while gladly taking funds from Brussels.
He drew flak recently from Norway and the United States over a probe targeting Norwegian-funded civil rights groups and corruption watchdogs that the government says have links to the political left.
But Orban is unapologetic.
"Liberal democracy would not have been capable of tackling utility bills or cost-cutting, of solving the problems of foreign-currency debtors, or delving into currency contracts," he said recently.
"Hungary will not be a dictatorship just because it won't accept the liberal dogma system."
- Reforms and cuts -
Despite his defiance of Brussels and foreign banks, Orban has always made sure to stay just within the confines of the law.
"It's a government of lawyers," Kati Marton, from the New York-based Committee to Protest Journalists, told AFP.
"They don't go a millimetre beyond the legally permissible. But they are absolutely in violation of the spirit of the EU," she said.
With no new elections due until 2018, Fidesz will now have even more room for manoeuvre especially as the left-wing opposition is weak, said Tamas Lanczi from the Szazadveg Institute, a think tank.
"Prime Minister Orban will use the next two years to transform the large public welfare system, like the health care system, education, and cut bureaucracy," he told AFP.
Economy Minister Mihaly Varga has already hinted at cutting public spending to 45 percent of gross domestic product from around 50 percent -- saving about 1.7 trillion forints (5.7 billion euros, $7.0 billion).
This could help placate the European Union, which has warned Hungary that it could return to the bloc's budget-monitoring mechanism if it does not reduce its debt, currently at about 80 percent of GDP, fast enough.
More controversially, Orban has repeatedly said he would like to see half of the country's banks -- most of them foreign-owned -- in Hungarian hands.
He also plans to set up a non-profit state utility company next year to bring prices down for consumers, although this will challenge existing participants in the market.
"The essence of the future is that anything can happen," Orban said this summer about his plans for the rest of his term in office.
But a small cloud looms overhead. Despite its latest poll victory Fidesz has been losing support, analysts say.
And as Orban continues his balancing act between its Western allies and Russia, which Hungary depends on for most of its gas, there is also a risk he will fall between both stools.
"It's not a sustainable model to be part of Western alliances and speak against their interests," Political Capital's Peter Kreko warned.
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