Mayor of Budapest

In June 2019, in the opposition's first primary election, he was elected^[14] as the opposition (MSZP-P-DK-Momentum-LMP-MLP)'s candidate.^{[15][16][17][18]} While Jobbik did not endorse Karácsony outright, the party opted not to run a candidate against him.^[19] This left Karácsony as the sole opposition candidate for the position of Lord Mayor of Budapest in the 2019 local elections, against incumbent Lord Mayor István Tarlós, who was supported by the ruling coalition, Fidesz–KDNP. He then went on to win the election on 13 October 2019 with 50.86% of the votes being cast in his favor, with Tarlós receiving 44.10%.^[20]

On Karácsony's initiative,^[21] the mayors of the capitals of all four Visegrád Group countries signed the Pact of Free Cities in Budapest in December 2019. The pact promotes "common values of freedom, human dignity, democracy, equality, rule of law, social justice, tolerance and cultural diversity".^[22]

He gained international popularity in 2021, when he renamed four streets in Budapest to "Free Hong Kong Street", "Uyghur Martyrs Street", "Dalai Lama Street" and "Bishop Xie Shiguang Street" in protest of the Hungarian government's choice to open a branch of the Fudan University in Budapest, which in 2019 changed its statute, removing the phrase "academic independence and freedom of thought" and including "commitment to follow the leadership of the Communist Party",^[23][24] thus being considered by Karácsony and the thousands of Hungarian citizens who protested against the opening of the Chinese university as a sign of an excessive expansion of Chinese influence in Hungary.^{[25][26][27][28][29]}

Opposition primary

In May 2021, six opposition parties formed a coalition against Fidesz and Viktor Orbán in the 2022 national elections. Karácsony ran as the prime ministerial candidate of three parties (PM, MSZP and LMP) in the 2021 primary election. During his candidacy, he announced the establishment of a cross-party political movement called 99 Movement (Hungarian: 99 Mozgalom) on 15 May 2021.^[30][31] Karácsony mentioned the following as its main policy goals:

Our purpose and faith are no more, no less: the dethronement of 1 percent of the privileged few for the benefit and benefit of the 99 percent majority. To replace the people of power with the power of the people. For Hungary to breathe, to calm down and to be a common home for all of us. ... The next chapter of Hungary will be the history of all Hungarians. Instead of a country decorated around today's privileged people, we are creating a homeland that offers everyone a chance, a future and a happy life. It is time to build a new policy that represents the interests of 99% of the country instead of 1% of the richest.^[32]

He also stressed that he wanted a country where no one considers the other a traitor, where there is no need to choose between homeland and progress, nation and Europe, Budapest and the countryside.^[33]

Karácsony came in second in the first round of the opposition primary (27.3%) and, beside a few places in the countryside, he could only win in the constituencies of Budapest, where he is serving as mayor (altogether 15 constituencies).^[34] Following a week-long negotiation and political tactics, beside the result of opinion polls, Karácsony dropped out and endorsed Péter Márki-Zay, who came in third place and eventually won the second round against Klára Dobrev and became the nominee of the opposition for the position of prime minister in the 2022 parliamentary election.^[35] Political analysts described his withdrawal as a political failure, which, for the first time, has stalled his upward career since 2010. Before the opposition primary, Karácsony was considered the towering favorite of the primary, who in recent years has built an image of the face of the opposition. The ruling party Fidesz also targeted him with a negative campaign (the slogan "Stop Gyurcsány, stop Karácsony!") during the primary. According to experts, Karácsony launched his campaign late, did not campaign in the summer (unlike his opponents), had no strong message and was prematurely focused on the 2022 election and defeating Viktor Orbán.^[36]