Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 15:25, 12 March 2013

"Hungarian Civic Party" redirects here. For the political party in Romania, see Hungarian Civic Party (Romania).

The Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Union (Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈfidɛs]; in full, Template:Lang-hu) is a major national conservative political party in Hungary. At the 2010 election in Hungary, Fidesz-Christian Democratic People's Party (KDNP) won a two-thirds majority of seats by gaining 52% of the votes, with Fidesz winning 227 seats and KDNP winning 36. Fidesz is a member of the European People's Party (EPP).

History

The party was founded in 1988, named simply Fidesz (Fiatal Demokraták Szövetsége, Alliance of Young Democrats), originally as a youthful libertarian, anti-communist party. Fidesz was founded by young democrats, mainly students, who were persecuted by the communist party and had to meet in small, clandestine groups. The movement became a major force in many areas of modern Hungarian history. The membership had an upper age limit of 35 years (this requirement was abolished at the 1993 congress).

In 1989 Fidesz won the Rafto Prize. The Hungarian youth opposition movement was represented by one of its leaders, Dr Péter Molnár, who became a Member of Parliament in Hungary. In 1992 Fidesz joined the Liberal International.

Fidesz received 8.95% (1990), 7.02% (1994) and 29.48% (1998).

After its disappointing result in the 1994 elections, Fidesz changed its political position from liberal to conservative. In 1995, it added "Hungarian Civic Party" (Magyar Polgári Párt) to its shortened name. The conservative turn caused a severe split in the membership. Péter Molnár left the party, as well as Gábor Fodor and Klára Ungár, who joined the liberal Alliance of Free Democrats.

Fidesz gained power in 1998 under leader and Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who governed Hungary in coalition with the smaller Hungarian Democratic Forum and the Independent Smallholders' Party. In 2000, Fidesz joined the European People's Party and had its membership in the Liberal International terminated.

Fidesz narrowly lost the 2002 elections to the Hungarian Socialist Party, by 41.07% to the Socialists' 42.05%. Fidesz had 169 members of the Hungarian National Assembly, out of a total of 386. Following the defeat, the municipal elections in October saw huge Fidesz losses.

In the spring of 2003, Fidesz took its current name, "Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Union".

It was the most successful party in the 2004 European Parliamentary Elections: it won 47.4% of the vote and 12 of its candidates were elected as Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), including Lívia Járóka, the second Roma MEP.

Some considered the election of Dr. László Sólyom as the new President of Hungary as the most recent success of the party. He was endorsed by Védegylet, an NGO including people from the whole political spectrum. His activity does not entirely overlap with the conservative ideals and he championed for elements of both political wings with a selective, but conscious choice of values.

In 2005 Fidesz and the Christian Democratic People's Party (KDNP) formed an alliance for the 2006 elections. Despite winning 42.0% of the list votes and 164 representatives out of 386 in National Assembly, they were beaten by the social-democratic and liberal coalition of Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP) and the Alliance of Free Democrats (SZDSZ).

On October 1, 2006, Fidesz won the municipal elections, which counterbalanced the MSZP-led government's power to some extent. Fidesz won 15 of 23 mayoralties in Hungary's largest cities—although its candidate narrowly lost the city of Budapest to a member of the Liberal Party—and majorities in 18 out of 20 regional assemblies.

In the 2009 European Parliament election, Fidesz won a landslide victory, gaining 56.36% of the vote and 14 of Hungary's 22 seats. This predicted a landslide in the 2010 parliamentary elections, where they won the outright majority in the first round on April 11, with the Fidesz-KDNP alliance winning 206 seats, including 119 individual seats. In the final result, they won 263 seats, of which 173 are individual seats. Fidesz holds 227 of these seats, giving it an outright majority in the National Assembly by itself.

Ideology

Currently Fidesz is considered a conservative party on social issues and nationalist on issues of European integration and relations with the International Monetary Fund.

Youth

The Youth of Fidesz is the Fidesz Youth Section that was created as a section within the party gathering all party members below the age of 30. It was founded by the Fidesz congress and established in December 2005. The chairman of Fidesz Youth Section is Dániel Loppert. Fidesz Youth Section is member of European Democrat Students (EDS) and observer member in the Democrat Youth Community of Europe (DEMYC).

Electoral results

Results on the lists:

In 2002 the Fidesz list ran together with the Hungarian Democratic Forum (MDF). Before the 2006 elections MDF separated from the coalition, replaced by the KDNP in the alliance.

Single member constituencies voting consistently for Fidesz

The SMCs shown on the image have voted for Fidesz ever since 1998. SMCs with a paler hue of orange elected FKGP candidates in 1998, as part of a pact between the two parties.

In January 2010, László Kövér, head of the party's national board, told reporters the party was aiming at winning a two-thirds majority at the parliamentary elections in April. He noted that Fidesz had a realistic chance to win a landslide. Concerning the radical nationalist Jobbik party's gaining ground Kövér said it was a "lamentably negative" tendency, adding that it was rooted in the "disaster government" of the Socialist Party and its former liberal ally Free Democrats.

Controversy

This article's "criticism" or "controversy" section may compromise the article's neutrality. Please help rewrite or integrate negative information to other sections through discussion on the talk page. (March 2013)

After winning 53% of the popular vote, which translated into a supermajority of 68% of parliamentary seats, giving Fidesz sufficient power to revise or replace the constitution, the party embarked on an extraordinary project of passing over 200 laws and drafting and adopting a new constitution—since followed by nearly 2000 amendments.

The new constitution has been widely criticized by the Venice Commission for Democracy through Law, the Council of Europe, the European Parliament and the United States for gathering too much power in the hands of the ruling party, Fidesz, for limiting oversight of the new constitution by the Constitutional Court of Hungary, and for removing democratic Checks and Balances in various areas, including the ordinary Judiciary, supervision of Elections and the Media.

On January 4, 2012 the opposition took to the streets protesting the actions of the government of Viktor Orbán, who has rejected appeals from European Commission President Jose Barroso and Economic Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn. The European Commission subsequently threatened punitive action against the Orbán government. Pro-government supporters held a much larger rally on the 21st of January, 2012, also supporting the new constitution. The so-called "Peace March" took place in Budapest and showed the strong popular support behind the Orbán government. According to the opposition paper, Népszabadság, it was one of the biggest, or maybe the biggest public manifestation since 1989, obviously bigger than any opposition rally.

Rupert Scholtz, German constitutional law expert and former federal minister stated that „the Hungarian basic law is a very modern Constitution, entirely in the spirit of Western constitutionality and democracy. It also contains a clear commitment to Europe.” He underlined that there are many constitutions in Europe which have reference to Christianity, or to God. In his presentation he stressed that the „Constitution contains a clear commitment to Hungarian democracy, as well as to the rule of law, which is always the most effective antidote to any authoritarian attempts” . In his understanding Hungary, can serve as a model in terms of its cataloge of fundamental rights and debt ceiling. According to him, the reasons behind the unfounded criticism of the Western leftists is that they blindly accepts the harsh attacks of the Hungarian left parties which are still unable to accept their loss of power. He suggested that they should read the constitution first, before criticising it.

On November 26, 2012, Fidesz used its supermajority to pass legislation revising eligibility for voting. According to critics, this would make it harder to vote the party out of power. In January 2013, the current Constitutional Court of Hungary struck down the new electoral law, objecting to (1) the requirement that voters must register no later than 15 days before polling day, to (2) the proposal that political advertising must be restricted to the publicly run media and (3) to proposed bans on cinemas screening political ads during the campaign as well as bans on the publication of any election-related Opinion polls in the six days prior to election day. The court then ruled that this new law restricted voter rights to an unjustifiable degree and called it a grave violation of freedom of speech.

This January 2013 Constitutional Court of Hungary ruling that the new electoral law was unconstitutional was still decided by the current Court, in which the Fidesz appointees are not yet in the majority. But under the new constitution, with its younger mandatory retirement age for judges, all new judicial appointments are now in the hands of the Fidesz-appointed "President of the National Judicial Office," Tünde Handó—a family friend of Prime Minister Orbán and the wife of József Szájer, a founding member of the ruling Fidesz party and the man credited with drawing up Hungary's constitution on his iPad. As of April 2013 the majority of the Constitutional Court of Hungary will become Fidesz appointees. However, the initial fears towards the appointees of the FIDESZ, have not been proven yet. On the 1st of March 2013, Princeton University international constitutional law scholar and Hungary specialist Kim Lane Scheppele wrote:

"The Court declared unconstitutional the law that arbitrarily lowered the retirement age of judges, . The Court nullified the law that made it a crime to be homeless in Hungary. The Court quashed the requirement that students on state-provided financial aid remain in the country after graduation. . The Court voided on technical grounds an earlier constitutional amendment that handed power to the head of the National Judicial Office and to the chief public prosecutor to assign any case to any court, extended the old statutes of limitations for communist-era crimes, and established a new voter registration scheme. And then the Court declared the voter registration scheme substantively unconstitutional as well. Just this week, the Court declared unconstitutional the law that banned display of extremist symbols including the red star and the swastika, following prior decisions from the European Court of Human Rights. And the Court declared unconstitutional parts of the law that removed the official legal status from more than 300 churches."

The new report of the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, entitled “Democracy and Human Rights at Stake in Hungary: The Viktor Orbán Government’s drive for centralisation of power” "describes how the Orbán government is centralizing power, undermining the independence of courts, and putting media freedom under pressure.

On the 1st of March 2013, Princeton University international constitutional law scholar and Hungary specialist Kim Lane Scheppele wrote:

"the government is… introducing into the Parliament a 15-page constitutional… mega-amendment... a toxic waste dump of bad constitutional ideas, many of which were introduced before and nullified by the Constitutional Court or changed at the insistence of European bodies. The new constitutional amendment (again) kills off the independence of the judiciary, brings universities under (even more) governmental control, opens the door to political prosecutions, criminalizes homelessness, makes the recognition of religious groups dependent on their cooperation with the government and weakens human rights guarantees across the board. Moreover, the constitution will now buffer the government from further financial sanctions by permitting it to take all fines for noncompliance with the constitution or with European law and pass them on to the Hungarian population as special taxes, not payable by the normal state budget.

"For good measure, the mega-amendment adds a new and nasty twist. It annuls all of the decisions made by the Court before 1 January 2012 so that they have no legal effect. Now, no one in the country – not the Constitutional Court, not the ordinary courts, not human rights groups or ordinary citizens – can rely any longer on the Court’s proud string of rights-protecting decisions...

"The amendment reverses virtually all of the concessions that the government has been forced to make over the last year, and it provides further evidence that Prime Minister Viktor Orbán recognizes no limits on his power.

"t seems increasingly likely that the Hungarian government is heading toward the creation of a police state" . This latter opinion was found exaggerated even by the Hungarian Civic Liberties Union

On the 5th of March 2013, Michael Link, undersecretary in the German Foreign Ministry, in "Hungary must remain a country of the law," called on Hungary "to demonstrate that the country has an effective separation of power between the legislative and the judicial."

On the 6th of March 2013, Europe’s main human rights watchdog, Council of Europe President Thorbjorn Jagland, said that the amendments set to be voted on next week by Hungarian lawmakers may be incompatible with European legal principles and asked Hungary to postpone the approval of a series of constitutional amendments so legal experts can review the changes.

On the 7th of March, Deputy Prime Minister Navracsics sent letter to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjorn Jagland, to give some additional written explanations to the Proposal on the Fourth Amendment to Fundamental Law of Hungary.

On the 8th of March, 2013. the government of the USA raised its concerns both about the content of the proposed amendments "as they could threaten the principles of institutional independence and checks and balances that are the hallmark of democratic governance" and about the process by which they were to be accepted: " "urges the Government of Hungary and the Parliament to ensure that the process of considering amendments to the constitution demonstrates respect for the rule of law and judicial review, openness to the views of other stakeholders across Hungarian society, and continuing receptiveness to the expertise of the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission."

On the 8th of March 2013, in a letter to the European commission, Guido Westerwelle, the German foreign minister, and counterparts in Denmark, the Netherlands and Finland called for the European Union to be given new powers allowing it to freeze EU budget funds to a member state in breach of Europe's "fundamental values."On the same day, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso too expressed concerns to Prime Minister Viktor Orban over the amendment vote in Hungary’s parliament next week to change the constitution, arguing it contravenes EU rules in areas such as the judiciary.

On the 8th of March, Minister of Foreign Affairs, János Martonyi sent letter to the Minsters of Foreign Affairs of EU-member states, in which he gave details on the text of the amendment.

On the 11th of March, "Hungary's parliament, dominated by Prime Minister Viktor Orban's Fidesz party, adopted changes to the country's constitution on Monday despite warnings from the European Union and the U.S. government that the changes could weaken Hungary's democracy. The legislation was supported by 265 lawmakers in the 386-seat chamber, with 11 votes against and 33 abstentions."

In the New York Times column of Nobel Laureate economist Paul Krugman, Princeton University international constitutional scholar and Hungary specialist Professor Kim Lane Scheppele writes:

"The Hungarian Parliament passed a 15-page amendment to its one-year-old constitution against a storm of protest from both home and abroad. If it is signed by the Hungarian President, János Áder, the “Fourth Amendment” will wipe out more than 20 years of Constitional Court decisions protecting human rights and it will reverse concessions made to Europe over the last year of difficult bargaining as the Fidesz government has tightened its grip on power…. But Hungary’s allies should see through the fog of amendment. By now it should be clear that Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his Fidesz party recognize no limitations in their quest for power."

References

1. http://ispo.fss.muni.cz/uploads/2download/Chytilek-Kaniok-Hels06.pdf
2. http://www.policysolutions.hu/userfiles/elemzesek/Euroszkepticizmus%20Magyarorsz%C3%A1gon.pdf
3. Center-right Fidesz party sweeps to victory in Hungary, CNN, 26 April 2010, retrieved 1 December 2011
4. Fidesz wins Hungary election with strong mandate, Reuters, 11 April 2010, retrieved 1 December 2011
5. "Center-right Fidesz wins big in Hungary elections", Guardian, 12 April 2010, retrieved 1 December 2011
6. "Socialists in Hungary Are Ousted in Elections", New York Times, 25 April 2010, retrieved 1 December 2011
7. "Hungary's centre-right claims victory in polls", Financial Times, 11 April 2010, retrieved 1 December 2011
8. "Fidesz: The story so far", The Economist, 18 December 2010, retrieved 18 November 2011
9. Right-wing Fidesz win election by landslide, Radio France Internationale, 12 April 2010, retrieved 18 November 2011
10. Seres, Balint (12 April 2010), "Right-wing Fidesz party wins by landslide in Hungary elections", news.com.au, retrieved 18 November 2011
11. ^ Bakke, Elisabeth (2010), "Central and East European party systems since 1989", Central and Southeast European Politics Since 1989, Cambridge University Press, p. 79, retrieved 17 November 2011
12. Hloušek, Vít; Kopeček, Lubomír (2010), Origin, Ideology and Transformation of Political Parties: East-Central and Western Europe Compared, Ashgate, p. 115
13. Fidesz had common regional and nationwide lists and had common candidates with KDNP in the 2010 election
14. ^ Fidesz
15. Template:Hu icon Sólyom politikaformáló erő akar lenni, Kern Tamás, Index.hu, August 22, 2005
16. "VoksCentrum - a választások univerzuma". Vokscentrum.hu. Retrieved 2010-04-17.
17. "http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2006/10/03/2003330242". Taipeitimes.com. 2006-10-03. Retrieved 2010-04-17. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
18. "Országos Választási Iroda - 2010 Országgyűlési Választások" (in Template:Hu icon). Valasztas.hu. 2010-05-03. Retrieved 2010-05-05.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
19. By MTI. "Opposition Fidesz aims at two-thirds majority". Politics.hu. Retrieved 2010-04-17.
20. "Hungary's Constitutional Revolution," Kim Lane Scheppele, New York Times, December 19, 2011, http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/19/hungarys-constitutional-revolution/ Accessed Dec. 23, 2011.
21. "Opinion on the New Constitution of Hungary, 20 June 2011, "http://lapa.princeton.edu/hosteddocs/hungary/venice%20commission%20hungarian%20constitution.pdf Accessed Dec. 23, 2011
22. "European Parliament resolution of 5 July 2011 on the Revised Hungarian Constitution ," http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+TA+P7-TA-2011-0315+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN&language=EN Accessed Dec. 23, 2011
23. "A Second Look - Op-Ed by Ambassador Eleni Tsakopoulos Kounalakis published in the Hungarian weekly Heti Válasz December 8, 2011," Embassy of the United States in Budapest, Hungary, December 8, 2011, http://hungary.usembassy.gov/kounalakis12082011.html Accessed Dec. 23, 2011.
24. http://esbalogh.typepad.com/hungarianspectrum/2011/12/the-end-of-the-independent-judiciary.html Accessed Dec. 23, 2011
25. "Hungary's Constitution: European Commission Threatens Punitive Actions And Appoints Task Force To Review New Laws". theinformationdaily.com. 4 January 2012. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
26. Hossó, Andrea (27 January 2012). "The protest in Budapest showed that most Hungarians still support the government - why wasn't it reported?". Daily Mail.
27. The siege of the Hungarian Television Station, September 18, 2006 http://hungarianspectrum.wordpress.com/2012/12/29/the-siege-of-the-hungarian-television-station-september-18-2006/
28. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16669498/ BBC 21 january 2012; accessed March 8, 2013
29. http://nol.hu/velemeny/a_bekemenet_elerte_celjat/ Népszabadság (In Hungarian) 21 January 2012; accessed March 8, 2013
30. http://www.budapesttimes.hu/2012/10/06/basic-law-exemplary-criticisms-nonsense/ The Budapest Times 06 october 2012; accessed March 8, 2013
31. http://www.budapesttimes.hu/2012/10/06/basic-law-exemplary-criticisms-nonsense/ The Budapest Times 06 October 2012; accessed March 8, 2013
32. http://dir.groups.yahoo.com/group/mvszcanadawest/message/4802/ Die Welt (in English) April 30, 2012; accessed March 8, 2013
33. Marton Dornbach, Open Access Archivangelism, November 30, 2012 http://openaccess.eprints.org/index.php?/archives/964-Beyond-the-Problem-of-Access-Democracy-Closing-in-Hungary.html
34. "Hungary top court voids election law in blow to Orban". BBC. 4 January 2013. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
35. http://hu.wikipedia.org/Handó_Tünde
36. Joshua Rozenberg: "Meet Tünde Handó:In Hungary, one woman effectively controls the judiciary, and she happens to be married to the author of its constitution" The Guardian March 20, 2012 http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/2012/mar/20/tunde-hando-hungarian-judges
37. Sophie Duxson & Greg Weeks: "Constitutional change in Hungary: what can the EU do?" http://eutopialaw.com/2012/01/23/constitutional-change-in-hungary-what-can-the-eu-do/ Eutopia Law, January 23, 2012
38. Kim Lane Scheppele, New York Times, March 1, 2013 http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/01/guest-post-constitutional-revenge/ Constitutional Revenge
39. “Democracy and Human Rights at Stake in Hungary: The Viktor Orbán Government’s drive for centralisation of power"
40. Balogh, Eva (2013)“Democracy and Human Rights at Stake in Hungary”: The Report of the Norwegian Helsinki Committee. Hungarian Spectrum, February 14, 2013
41. Kim Lane Scheppele, New York Times, March 1, 2013 http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/01/guest-post-constitutional-revenge/ Constitutional Revenge
42. Kim Lane Scheppele, New York Times, April 19, 2012 http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/19/the-new-hungarian-secret-police/ The New Hungarian Secret Police
43. Eva Balogh, Hungarian Spectrum http://hungarianspectrum.wordpress.com/2012/12/30/the-new-parliamentary-guard-what-will-fidesz-use-it-for/ The new Parliamentary Guard: What will Fidesz use it for?
44. http://hvg.hu/itthon/20120421_tasz_scheppele_tek/ HVG (In Hungarian)
45. http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/DE/Infoservice/Presse/Interviews/2013/130305-StM_L_FAZ.html
46. http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/european-rights-watchdog-urges-hungary-to-postpone-vote-on-disputed-amendments-to-constitution/2013/03/06/87ac1526-867b-11e2-a80b-3edc779b676f_story.html
47. http://www.kormany.hu/en/ministry-of-public-administration-and-justice/news/deputy-prime-minister-navracsics-s-letter-to-secretary-general-jagland
48. http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2013/03/205838.htm
49. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/mar/08/hungarian-prime-minister-warned-power
50. http://www.euronews.com/newswires/1848348-eus-barroso-critical-of-planned-hungary-constitution-vote/
51. http://www.kormany.hu/en/ministry-of-foreign-affairs/news/janos-martonyi-sent-letter-to-eu-foreign-ministers
52. http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/sns-rt-us-hungary-constitutionbre92a0ox-20130311,0,1542992.story
53. http://lapa.princeton.edu/newsdetail.php?ID=63
54. http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/12/guest-post-the-fog-of-amendment/

External links

• Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Union Official website
• Fidesz page on the website of the European People's Party
• Speech delivered by Mr Viktor Orban at the 17th Congress of Fidesz upon his election as president of Fidesz - Hungarian Civic Union, 17 May 2003 (from Google's cache)
• The History of FIDESZ (from Google's cache)
• Hungary's PM calls confidence vote

v t e Political parties in Hungary
National Assembly (199)	Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Union (117) Christian Democratic People's Party (18) Democratic Coalition (15) Momentum Movement (10) Hungarian Socialist Party (10) Jobbik (10) Our Homeland Movement (6) Dialogue for Hungary (5) Politics Can Be Different (5) On the People's Side (1) Spark Movement (1) German Self-Government (1) Independent (1)
Not represented*	Hungarian Two Tailed Dog Party (3.27%) Solution Movement (1.04%) Party of Normal Life (0.70%) Yes Solidarity for Hungary Movement Hungarian Workers' Party Civic Response Hungarian Liberal Party New Start Social Democratic Party of Hungary Workers' Party of Hungary 2006 – European Left Motherland Party ReforMers Prayer - Our Party Second Reform Era Party Everybody's Hungary People's Party TISZA – Respect and Freedom Party * Limit for parties to join the National Assembly in Hungary is 5 % of popular votes
European Parliament (21)	Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Union (10) TISZA – Respect and Freedom Party (7) Democratic Coalition (2) Our Homeland Movement (1) Christian Democratic People's Party (1)
Politics portal List of ruling political parties Politics of Hungary

• Political parties established in 1988
• 1988 establishments in Hungary
• Political parties in Hungary
• International Democrat Union member parties
• Conservative parties in Hungary
• Eurosceptic parties
• Euroscepticism in Hungary