Inside Hungary’s dazzling neo-Gothic parliament, the scenes will be solemn on Saturday as the new leader, Péter Magyar, is sworn in. Outside is where the party is expected to unfold, as people pour in from across the country to mark a pivotal moment: the formal end of Viktor Orbán’s 16 years in power.

It comes weeks after Magyar and his opposition Tisza party won a landslide victory in a result that rattled the global far right, reset Hungary’s long-strained relationship with the EU and set off all-night celebrations along the banks of the Danube River.

He this week called on Hungarians to join him in turning the page on Orbán’s rule and his efforts to turn Hungary into a “petri dish for illiberalism” during his time in power. “We will step through the gateway of regime change with a huge party. Come along, and invite your family and friends!” Magyar wrote on social media.

In the weeks since the election, which he called an end to Hungary’s “two-decade-long nightmare”, Magyar has sought to emphasise his readiness to change the country – vowing to suspend broadcasts from state media that functioned as Orbán mouthpieces, calling on Orbán-era appointees to resign, and sending back the millions of Hungarian forints donated to him by an Orbán-linked supporter.

Saturday’s swearing-in will be laced with more of the same symbolism: the European flag will be returned to the parliament’s facade after it was removed in 2014 and Krisztián Kőszegi is expected to become the first Roma vice-president of the national assembly, overseeing a government in which more than a quarter of lawmakers will be women – a record high in the country’s post-communist history.

Expectations for Magyar are high across Hungary. “Sorry for my language, but Orbán just fucked these last years,” said Tamás, 45, as he made his way down the main street of Győr, a city of about 175,000 people in north-western Hungary.

He had initially been happy with Orbán’s government, he said. But disappointment had steadily settled in as accusations began to swirl over the government siphoning off much-needed funds to bolster its own supporters and interests. “The hospitals are in very bad condition, for example, and schools are not really up to date. So we need a lot of changes,” he said.

As Hungarians grapple with a soaring cost of living and sky-high inflation, Magyar’s election offered hope that change could be on the way, said Zsuzsi, 60. “The mood has been much better. Even here, where there are a lot of Fidesz supporters.”

The small city of Győr burst into public view after a campaign rally in which Orbán lashed out at protesters who were booing him, accusing them of promoting Ukrainian interests – a frequent target of his electioneering, which cast Volodymyr Zelenskyy as a threat. It was, for many, the first sign that the long-serving leader was feeling the pressure after months of polls suggesting a clear lead for Magyar and Tisza.

In the same plaza where the rally was held, Zsuzsi lauded the actions Magyar had taken to date to crack down on corruption and convince the EU to unlock billions in frozen funds. “There are huge hopes for him,” she said, noting with a smile that the bar, however, was not particularly high. “Things can’t get worse.”

Her friend Gabi, 56, was more circumspect. “Everyone I know, they are scared,” she said. She had cast her ballot for the extreme right Our Homeland party, amid fears that closer relations with the EU would lead to higher migration rates and the transformation of life in her small village. “Ursula von der Leyen can be quite threatening,” she said, declining to give more details. “And people feel uncertain because Péter Magyar is so arrogant, he will fail.”

It was a hint of Orbán’s long shadow. For years he and his Fidesz party sought to drum up support by stoking fear, portraying EU officials such as von der Leyen, the philanthropist George Soros and Zelenskyy as dangers only Orbán and Fidesz were capable of tackling.

“This repetitive propaganda was really effective in some ways,” said Dávid, 25. “It became a religion. It was really not healthy.”

The part-time electrician and tour guide had recently spent a stint in Sweden, where he had glimpsed just how far Orbán’s Hungary had veered from other countries in Europe. “Here politics affects every detail of your life,” he said, citing cases of workers being instructed to vote for Fidesz, the ubiquitous, scaremongering billboards put up by the rightwing nationalist party and the rhetoric that had seeped into everyday life. “It was really devastating sometimes. I hope after a couple years this will start to disappear.”

Saturday’s swearing-in will mark the first time since 1990 that Orbán – who in his political career shifted from pro-democracy campaigner to a Russia-friendly figure lauded by the global far right – has not sat in Hungary’s parliament, after he announced last month he would not be taking his seat. What will come next for him remains to be seen.

Orbán bore the brunt of Magyar’s messaging as the incoming PM crisscrossed the country, speaking directly to millions and flexing his social media skills to take aim at the staggering wealth amassed by Orbán’s inner circle at a time when many in Hungary had become poorer.

He reiterated the message speaking to an audience in Italy this week: “We had to fight a different kind of mafia in Hungary,” he said.

Many in Győr said the time had come for Hungary to confront all that had happened under Orbán. “The skeletons are falling out of the closet,” said Gèza, 64. “We kind of suspected it, but now it’s all being laid bare.”

A survey published this week suggested as many as two-thirds of Hungarians wanted to see Orbán face justice. Magyar has yet to address the issue directly, instead announcing plans to create an authority to investigate and attempt to recover any public funds that were found to be misused during Orbán’s tenure.

It was only fair, said Géza. “We’re waiting to see if there will be consequences,” he said. “Because if there are no consequences, that will be a disappointment.”