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The Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Union (in Hungarian: Fidesz – Magyar Polgári Szövetség) is a large centre-right conservative and Christian Democratic political party in Hungary; as of 2006, it is the largest opposition party. It is a member of the European People's Party.
History
It was founded in 1988, named simply Fidesz (Fiatal Demokraták Szövetsége, Alliance of Young Democrats), originally as a youthful libertarian party against communism. 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, engaging itself on every level in the development of a democratic system, its members being active as guardians of fundamental human rights.
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.
After its disappointing result in the 1994 election, 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.
It 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. In earlier elections, it got 8.95% (1990), 7.02% (1994) and 29.48% (1998).
Fidesz took its current name in the spring of 2003, "Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Union".
It was the most successful party in the 2004 European Parliamentary Elections, gaining 47.4% of the vote and electing 12 MEPs including Lívia Járóka, the second Roma MEP.
Some consider 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 doesn't 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 KDNP formed an alliance for the 2006 elections. At these elections this alliance gained strength, winning 42.0% of the list votes and 164 representatives out of 386 in Parliament.
On October 1, 2006, Fidesz won the local elections, which served to weaken the Socialist Party's (MSZP) tenuous grip on power. According to preliminary results 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.
Criticism
Fidesz is considered a nationalist party not only by its political opponents, but also by political scientists, and the mainstream media. This statement has been challenged by the party, as the views of MIÉP are more extreme. However, the presence of the extremist MIÉP in the Hungarian party system does not necessarily preclude nationalism of other political parties.
Fidesz made a swith from liberalism to conservativism in the mid-90's, which caused a break within the party, many of its members left it, mainly for the other liberal party, SZDSZ which then joined the socialist party MSZP right after the 1994 elections.
Fidesz is also criticised for its strongly centralized form, in which its leader Viktor Orbán has an unusually big power.
Fidesz and its leader was deeply involved in the selling scandal of the former main building in 1996 (picture on the right), where Hungarian (then state-owned) K&H Bank bought the office under the Orbán-government for 330 million HUF (about 1,5-2 million $), and signed a "hire-purchase agreement" with the party, which made them able to buy back the building in easy terms. The main criticism was that the party was in a financial trouble and they made this action to resolve those problems. This idea is not based on real evidence.
Results
Reults on the lists:
| year | result | voters |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 8.95% | 439481 |
| 1994 | 7.02% | 379295 |
| 1998 | 28.18% | 1263522 |
| 2002 | 41.07% | 2306763 |
| 2006 | 42.03% | 2272979 |
In 2002 the Fidesz list ran together with the MDF. Before the 2006 elections MDF seperated from the party, but then KDNP joined the allinance.
References
- http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2006/10/03/2003330242
- Racz, Barnabas. 2003. Regional Voting Trends in Hungarian National Elections 1985-2002. East European Quarterly 37(4): pg. 439.
- Batory, Agnes. 2002. Attitudes to Europe: Ideology, Strategy and the Issue of European Union Membership in Hungarian Party Politics. Party Politics 8(5): 525 - 539.
- Todosijevic, Bojan. 2005. Issues and Party Preferences in Hungary. Party Politics 11(1): 109-126.
- Hungary premier hopes for second term, BBC, 5 April, 2002
- Extremism in Europe
- Institute of Race Relations. "The new centre-Right coalition government, led by the Fidesz party, has refused to except any support from the extreme-Right Hungarian Justice and Life Party"
- Another article from IRR stating Fidesz as centre-right party, and MIÉP as nationalist/far-right
External links
- Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Union official site
- 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