Márton Melléthei-Barna Announces He Is Withdrawing From Ministerial Nomination

Márton Melléthei-Barna has announced that he is stepping down from consideration for the position of Minister of Justice. Péter Magyar reacted immediately to the announcement from his brother in law, writing that he appreciates the nominee’s commitment to his country, political transition, and the community of the TISZA Party. Magyar also said he will announce a new candidate for the justice minister position on Friday.

In his statement, Melléthei-Barna wrote that being nominated for the role of justice minister was a tremendous honor and was not connected either to his six month family relationship or to a friendship spanning decades. However, he believes that his family ties to the future prime minister would not help strengthen public consensus behind justice and the rule of law.

“An unprecedented social consensus stands behind restoring the rule of law and delivering justice. In the election, a record-breaking 3.3 million people voted for change. Since then, hundreds of thousands more have joined the side of political transformation: TISZA is polling at 70 percent. Nothing like this has ever happened in the history of modern Hungarian democracy.

I am proud that I was able to contribute to this success. In February 2024, immediately after the Partizán interview, I offered my help and was among the first to join Péter Magyar, taking on considerable personal risk. I participated in organizing the first events, both as a lawyer and as an activist, when we were still only a handful of people. After that, the legal work came to the forefront: organizing the legal takeover of the party, and managing the legal aspects of the European Parliament and local government elections.”

He also described the extraordinary situations he had to deal with during that period.

“There was data theft, intelligence surveillance, internal investigations…” he listed.

“Alongside handling these and similar cases, I organized the party’s legal team. Under my leadership, just like the other working groups, we carried out enormous work to prepare for governing: we drafted programs and prepared legislative proposals. I am proud to have led this team, and also proud that several colleagues became members of parliament.”

He added that the preparatory work required to secure European Union funding also demanded an enormous amount of effort.

“The entire party, including the legal team, did outstanding work, and through this we contributed to TISZA’s historic success.”

Melléthei-Barna then addressed the personal side of the story and explained how he became related to the future prime minister.

“Meanwhile, in August 2024, after 25 years, I met Péter Magyar’s sister again. By autumn, the meeting had turned into a relationship, and a year later into marriage. Since then, we have also had a child together. Being nominated for the position of Minister of Justice was a tremendous honor and was in no way based on our six month family connection or our decades long friendship. Naturally, we thought long and hard about whether I should accept the nomination, and we concluded that I was suitable and prepared for the task.

But precisely because of the enormous mandate we received, it is important to strengthen rather than weaken public consensus behind the rule of law and justice. Right now, my family and personal relationship with the prime minister would not help that cause. I believe my participation in government would have been legally, politically, morally, and personally beyond reproach, but at this moment I can best support this national unity by stepping back. Over the past two years, I have dedicated my life to political transformation. I was never driven by personal ambition, and certainly not by the search for a position.”