Everything about Szdsz totally explained
The
Alliance of Free Democrats – the Hungarian Liberal Party (
Hungarian:
Szabad Demokraták Szövetsége – a Magyar Liberális Párt, abbreviation
SZDSZ) is a
liberal party in
Hungary, led by
János Kóka (formerly led by
Gábor Kuncze). It is a member of the
ELDR and of
Liberal International. The SZDSZ draws its support predominantly from
Budapest.
It was founded in November
1988 as an opposition party to the
communists and draws support mostly from the middle classes, liberal intellectuals and entrepreneurs. The party, initially suggesting a radical agenda, suffered a close defeat at the first free parliamentary elections of the Third Republic in
1990, thus becoming the leading force of the opposition. After the conservative government's downfall at the following
1994 elections, SZDSZ surprised many by joining the socialist
MSZP, legal successor to the communist
MSZMP, in government. Thus began a strategic alliance between the two parties that lasted for 14 years, finally coming to an end with the coalition crisis of 2008.
Its heyday may be thought to have ended when it suffered heavy losses in the General Election in
1998, and in
2002 it scored only 5.5% of the vote, returning 20 deputies. It has been, however, a coalition partner with the ruling
Hungarian Socialist Party until 2008. Until May 2008, SZDSZ is in charge of three government ministries. In the
2004 European Parliamentary Election it recovered a little to 7.7% and elected 2
MEPs.
In the
2006 elections, it gained 6.5% of the list votes thus securing 20 representatives in Hungary's 386-strong
Parliament (this was the first time that the party managed to raise its support). The MSZP-SZDSZ coalition won the 2006 elections by a small margin.
On March 31, 2008, as a culmination of various disagreements between the MSZP and SZDSZ, mostly concerning the nature of the country's reforms,
János Kóka has announced that his party would quit the coalition by May 1, 2008.
(External Link
) This also meant that the MSZP would have to form the first
minority government of
Hungary.
Party president
János Kóka's legitimity has recently been subject to debate, as it had been found out that some of the signatures of the members of the committe electing him were fraudulent. Since he won by a very small margin, these votes could have changed the outcome of the election if they were cast in his favour. Because of this, a new election will be held in June.
(External Link)
SZDSZ provided the first freely elected President of the
Third Hungarian Republic,
Árpád Göncz, and the
Mayor of
Budapest,
Gábor Demszky, in office since
1990.
Parliamentary representation
| year |
seat percentage |
seats |
popular votes |
status |
| 1990 |
23.83% |
92 |
1,168,234 |
opposition |
| 1994 |
17.88% |
69 |
965,401 |
government |
| 1998 |
6.22% |
24 |
344,352 |
opposition |
| 2002 |
5.57% |
20 |
313,084 |
government |
| 2006 |
6.5% |
20 |
351,612 |
government |
Party Leaders
Further Information
Get more info on 'Szdsz'.
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