Alliance of Free Democrats
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| Alliance of Free Democrats – the Hungarian Liberal Party | |
|---|---|
| Szabad Demokraták Szövetsége – a Magyar Liberális Párt | |
| Image:Alliance of Free Democrats logo.png | |
| Leader | János Kóka |
| Founded | 13 November 1988 |
| Headquarters | 1143 Budapest, XIV. Gizella utca 36. |
| Political ideology | Radical liberalism, Neoliberalism |
| International affiliation | Liberal International |
| European affiliation | ALDE |
| Colour(s) | Blue |
| Website | www.szdsz.hu |
| Also about Hungarian politics | Politics List of political parties Elections |
| Hungary |
| Image:Coat of arms of Hungary.png This article is part of the series: |
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Other countries · Atlas Politics Portal |
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 hasn't ceased since, despite undergoing a number of crises.
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 since 2002. Presently 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, and thus is expected to be in office until at least 2010.
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.
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[edit] 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 |
[edit] Party Leaders
- 23 February 1990 to 23 November 1991 János Kis
- November 23 1991 to November 13 1992 Péter Tölgyessy
- November 13 1992 to April 24 1997 Iván Pető
- April 24 1997 to June 20 1998 Gábor Kuncze
- June 20 1998 to December 2000 Bálint Magyar
- December 2000 to June 2001 Gábor Demszky
- June 2001 to March 2007 Gábor Kuncze
- March 2007 to present János Kóka
[edit] Ministries led by SZDSZ
- Ministry of Economy and Transport (Minister: Dr. János Kóka)
- Ministry of Health (Minister: Dr. Ágnes Horváth)
- Ministry of Environment (Minister: Dr. Gábor Fodor)
[edit] See also
- Liberalism
- Contributions to liberal theory
- Liberalism worldwide
- List of liberal parties
- Liberal democracy
- Liberalism and radicalism in Hungary
[edit] External links
- Alliance of Free Democrats official site
Member parties of international liberal organizations | |
|---|---|
| Liberal International: *=Observer member | Andorra: PLA – Angola PLD – Argentina: Recrear* –Austria: LIF – Belgium: MR - VLD – Bulgaria: DPS - NDSV – Burkina Faso: ADF-RDA* - Cambodia: PSR* - Canada: Liberal Party - DR Congo: ANADER * – Costa Rica: PML – Côte d’Ivoire: RDR – Croatia: HNS-LD* – HSLS – Cuba: PLC – PSD – ULC – Denmark: RV - Venstre – Equatorial Guinea: UDENA – Estonia: Reform – Finland: Keskusta – SFP – Georgia: RPG* - Germany: FDP – Gibraltar: Liberal Party – Guatemala : MR* – Honduras: PLH – Hungary: SzDSz – Iceland: FSF – Ireland: PD* – Israel: Shinui - Italy: FdLI* - Kenya LDP* - Kosovo: PLK* – Latvia: LC – Lithuania: LCU – NU-SL* – Luxembourg: DP – Macedonia: LDP – Madagascar: MFM* - Malawi: UDF – Mali - PCR* - Mexico: NA* – Moldova: PSL – Montenegro: LSCG – Morocco: AdL* - UC - MP – Netherlands : D66 - VVD – Nicaragua: ALN* - Norway: Venstre – Paraguay: PLRA – Philippines: PL – Romania: PNL – Russia: Yabloko - Senegal: PDS – Serbia: LS – Seychelles: SNP* - Slovakia: ANO – Slovenia: LDS – South Africa: DA – Spain: UM – Sri Lanka: LP – Sweden: Cp* - FpL – Switzerland: FDP - PLS – Taiwan: DPP (民進黨) – Tanzania: CCW/CUF – Tunisia : PSL* - United Kingdom: APNI - Lib Dems - Zambia: UNDP* National groups: Brazil: Brazilian Group*– German Group – Israeli Group - Italian Group* – Netherlands Group - Catalan Group - British Group |
| European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party : | Andorra: LPA - Austria: LIF - Belgium: VLD - MR - Bosnia and Herzegovina: LDS - Bulgaria: ДПС - НДСВ - Croatia: HNS-LD - HSLS - IDS - Cyprus: ΕΔ - Czech Republic: ODA - Denmark: RV - Venstre - Estonia:KESK - Reform - Finland: Keskusta - SFP - Germany: FDP - Hungary: SzDSz - Ireland: PD - Italy: MRE - RAD - PRI - IDV - Latvia: LC - Lithuania: LCU - LRLS - NS-SL - Luxembourg: DP - Macedonia: ЛПМ - ЛДП - Moldova: AMN - Netherlands: D66 - VVD - Norway: Venstre - Poland: PD - Romania: NLP - Russia: Яблоко - Serbia: ЛС - PLK (Kosovo)- Slovakia: ANO - Slovenia: LDS - Spain: CDC - UM - Sweden: Cp - FpL - Switzerland: FDP - United Kingdom: Lib Dems - APNI Youth organization: LYMEC |
| Other parties in the ALDE EP Group: | Cyprus: DIKO - France: UDF* - Italy: Margherita* - Lithuania: DP* - Romania: PC - Spain: PNV* The parties marked with an * are member of the European Democratic Party |
| Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats | Cambodia: PSR - Malaysia: PGRM - Myanmar: NCUB – Pakistan: LFP (ass. member) - Philippines: LP – Singapore: SDP - Sri Lanka: LP - Taiwan: DPP (民進黨) - Thailand: DP |
| Africa Liberal Network | Angola: PLD – Burkina Faso: ADF-RDA – DR Congo: ANADER - Côte d’Ivoire: RDR - Equatorial Guinea: UDENA – Madagascar: MFM – Malawi: UDF - Morocco: MP – UC – Mozambique: PDD – Senegal: PDS – Seychelles: SNP – South Africa: DA – Tanzania: CUF - UDP – Tunisia: PSL – Zambia: UNDP – Zimbabwe: MDC |
| Liberal Network for Latin America (Relial) | Argentina: Recrear – PPG - Costa Rica: PML – Guatemala: MR – Mexico: NA – Peru: Justicia Nacional |
Political parties in Hungary Image:Flag of Hungary.svg | |
|---|---|
| Represented in the National Assembly (386) | Hungarian Socialist Party (190) - Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Union (141) - Christian Democratic People's Party (23) - Alliance of Free Democrats (20) - Hungarian Democratic Forum (11) - Association for Somogy * (1) *Officially as independent |
| Not represented in the Parliament ** | MIÉP-Jobbik Third Way Alliance of Parties (MIÉP & Jobbik) (2.20%) - Hungarian Communist Workers' Party (0.41%) - Centre Party (0.32%) - Independent Smallholders, Agrarian Workers and Civic Party (0.02%) |
| Represented in the European Parliament (24) | Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Union (12) - Hungarian Socialist Party (9) - Alliance of Free Democrats (2) - Hungarian Democratic Forum (1) |
| Portal:Politics - List of political parties - Politics of Hungary | |
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