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Alliance of Free Democrats – the Hungarian Liberal Party Szabad Demokraták Szövetsége – a Magyar Liberális Párt | |
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| Abbreviation | SZDSZ |
| First leader | János Kis |
| Last leader | Viktor Szabadai |
| Founded | 13 November 1988 |
| Dissolved | 30 October 2013 |
| Headquarters | 1143Budapest, XIV. Gizella utca 36. |
| Ideology | Liberalism[1][2][3][4] |
| Political position | Centre |
| European affiliation | Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe[2] |
| European Parliament group | Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (2004–2009) |
| International affiliation | Liberal International[2] |
| Colours | Blue |
| Website | |
| www.szdsz.hu (inHungarian; as of October 2012, home page offered link to English module) | |
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Parliament |
TheAlliance of Free Democrats – Hungarian Liberal Party (Hungarian:Szabad Demokraták Szövetsége – a Magyar Liberális Párt,pronounced[ˈsɒbɒdˈdɛmokrɒtaːkˈsøvɛt͡ʃːeːɡɛˈɒːˈmɒɟɒrˈlibɛraːliʃˈpaːrt],SZDSZ[ˈɛzdeːjɛs]) was aliberal[1][2][3][4]political party in Hungary.
The SZDSZ was a member of theAlliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party[2] and ofLiberal International.[2] It drew its support predominantly fromBudapest among the middle classes, liberal intellectuals and entrepreneurs, with an ideological basis insocial[1] andeconomic liberalism.[5] SZDSZ provided the first freely elected President for theThird Hungarian Republic,Árpád Göncz. The SZDSZ HighMayor of Budapest,Gábor Demszky was in office continuously since 1990 till 2010, when he was replaced byIstván Tarlós (who himself was a member of SZDSZ in the 1990s).
The party's origins lay in the illegaldemocratic opposition under the communist rule ofJános Kádár. This gave rise to the loosely organized Network of Free Initiatives (Szabad Kezdeményezések Hálózata) on 1 May 1988 and to the foundation of the SZDSZ as an opposition political party on 13 November 1988. Its founding leaders includedJános Kis,Márton Tardos,Gáspár Miklós Tamás, andMiklós Haraszti.[6]
The party initially suggested a radical agenda for changing the political, social and economic system in the country. It suffered a close defeat at the first free general elections of theThird Republic in 1990, thus becoming the leading opposition force in the first freeNational Assembly (Hungary'sparliament).
After the fall of the conservativeHungarian Democratic Forum-led government at the following1994 parliamentary election, SZDSZ surprised many by entering into a coalition with theHungarian Socialist Party (MSZP), the legal successor party to the communistHungarian Socialist Workers' Party. Thus began a strategic alliance between the two parties that lasted for 14 years, ending only in 2008. The coalition successfully defeated Orbán's Fidesz in 1994, 2002 and 2006.
The heyday of the SZDSZ may be thought to have ended when it suffered heavy losses in the1998 parliamentary election. In2002 parliamentary election, it gained only 5.5 percent of the vote, returning 20 deputies to the National Assembly.
Until its withdrawal from the coalition in May 2008, the SZDSZ had three portfolios. It also had a delegation in theEuropean Parliament, receiving 7.7 percent of the Hungarian vote and two MEPs in the2004 European Parliament election.
In the2006 parliamentary election, it gained no directly elected seats, but 6.5 percent of the list votes, thus securing 20 members in Hungary's 386-seat National Assembly. This was the first time that the party managed to increase its support compared with a previous general election. The MSZP–SZDSZ coalition had a small majority in the new National Assembly intake.
On 31 March 2008, various reform-related disagreements between the MSZP and SZDSZ led the SZDSZ leaderJános Kóka to announce that his party would exit the coalition by 1 May 2008.[7] This also meant that the MSZP would have to form the firstminority government in Hungary since the change of regime in 1989.
However, the legitimacy of Kóka's position as party president became questioned when it was discovered that some signatures of the delegates to the assembly electing him had been forged. Since he had won his position by a very small margin over Fodor, these votes might have changed the outcome. So a new leadership election was held in June[8] and Fodor was returned.
In the2009 European Parliament election, SZDSZ retained none of its seats with just 2.2 percent of the total vote, less than half of the minimum five percent needed to secure representation. The party did not even receive five percent in Budapest, its traditional stronghold. Party president Fodor offered his resignation as soon as the official tally was announced at 10:00 p.m.
In the2010 parliamentary election, SZDSZ won only 0.25 percent of the vote and was shut out of the legislature altogether for the first time since the change of regime. The party was even unable to gain parliamentary seats in Budapest. The Alliance of Free Democrats officially ceased to exist in October 2013.[9][10] A few months prior their official dissolution theHungarian Liberal Party was formed.[11]
The party has been described as fiscally moderate and socially compassionate. It supported same-sex marriage, euthanasia, the legalization of marijuana, higher taxes on corporations and the top 1%, lower taxes for the working class and middle class, creation of a universal basic income, increasing the minimum wage, stronger borders and eliminating illegal immigration, increasing legal immigration by 2% and ending compulsory military service.
| Election | Votes | Seats | Rank | Government | Prime Minister candidate | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | % | ±pp | # | +/− | ||||
| 1990 | 1,050,452 | 21.4% | – | 94 / 386 | ±0 | 2nd | in opposition | János Kis |
| 1994 | 1,066,074 | 19.7% |  1.7 | 70 / 386 | 24 | 2nd | MSZP-SZDSZ Supermajority | Iván Pető |
| 1998 | 353,186 | 7.88% | 11.82 | 24 / 386 | 46 | 4th | in opposition | Gábor Kuncze |
| 2002 | 313,084 | 5.57% | 2.31 | 20 / 386 | 4 | 3rd | MSZP-SZDSZ Majority | Gábor Kuncze |
| 2006 | 351,612 | 6.5% |  0.93 | 20 / 386 |  0 | 3rd | MSZP-SZDSZ Majority(until 2008) | Gábor Kuncze |
| 20101 | 12,652 | 0.25% | 6.25 | 0 / 386 | 20 | 8th | extra-parliamentary | – |
1 10 joint candidates with theHungarian Democratic Forum (MDF).
| Election year | # of overall votes | % of overall vote | # of overall seats won | +/- | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | 237,908 | 7.77% (3rd) | 2 / 24 | ||
| 2009 | 62,527 | 2.16% (6th) | 0 / 22 | 2 |
Member parties of international liberal organisations | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| National Assembly (199) |
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| Not represented* |
* Threshold for parties to join the National Assembly in Hungary is 5% of the popular vote, 10% for coalitions of two parties, and 15% for coalitions of three or more parties. |
| European Parliament (21) | |
| International | |
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| National | |
