Hungarian Socialist Party Magyar Szocialista Párt | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Abbreviation | MSZP |
| President | Imre Komjáthi |
| Deputy President | Lajos Korózs |
| Vice President | |
| Presidium | |
| Parliamentary leader | Bertalan Tóth |
| Founded | 7 October 1989; 36 years ago (1989-10-07) |
| Preceded by | Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party |
| Headquarters | 1114,Budapest, Villányi út 11-13. |
| Youth wing | Societas – Baloldali Ifjúsági Mozgalom |
| Membership(2021) | 5,000[1] |
| Ideology | Social democracy Pro-Europeanism |
| Political position | Centre-left toleft-wing |
| National affiliation |
|
| European affiliation | Party of European Socialists |
| International affiliation | |
| Colours | Red |
| National Assembly | 10 / 199 |
| European Parliament | 0 / 21 |
| County Assemblies | 1 / 381 |
| General Assembly of Budapest | 1 / 33 |
| Party flag | |
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| Website | |
| mszp.hu | |
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Parliament |
TheHungarian Socialist Party (Hungarian:Magyar Szocialista Párt[ˈmɒɟɒrˈsot͡siɒliʃtɒˈpaːrt]), commonly known by its acronymMSZP (Hungarian:[ˈɛmɛspeː]ⓘ), is acentre-left[2] toleft-wing[3]social democratic[4][5][6][7][8] andpro-European[9][10]political party inHungary.
It was founded on 7 October 1989 as apost-communist evolution and one of two legal successors of theHungarian Socialist Workers' Party (MSZMP). Along with its conservative rivalFidesz, MSZP was one of the two most dominant parties in Hungarian politics until2010; however, the party lost much of its popular support as a result of theŐszöd speech, the consequent2006 protests in Hungary, and then the2008 financial crisis. Following the 2010 election, MSZP became the largest opposition party in parliament, a position it held until2018, when it was overtaken by thefar-right-turned-centre-rightJobbik.
The MSZP evolved from thecommunistHungarian Socialist Workers' Party (or MSZMP), which ruled Hungary between 1956 and 1989. By the summer of 1989, the MSZMP was no longer a Marxist–Leninist party, and had been taken over by a faction of radical reformers who favoured jettisoning the Communist system in favour of a market economy. One of its leaders,Rezső Nyers, the architect of theNew Economic Mechanism in the 1960s and 1970s, was elected as chairman of a four-man collective presidency that replaced the old MSZMP Politburo. Although General SecretaryKároly Grósz, who had succeeded longtime leaderJános Kádár a year earlier, was elected to this body, Nyers now outranked him–and was thus now the de facto leader of Hungary.[11]
At a party congress on 7 October 1989, the MSZMP dissolved and refounded itself as the MSZP, with Nyers as its first president.[12] A marginal "Communist" faction led by Grósz broke away to form a revived Hungarian Communist Workers' Party, now known as theHungarian Workers' Party, the other successor of the MSZMP.
The decision to declare the MSZP a successor of the MSZMP was controversial, and still carries repercussions for both the MSZP and Hungary. Another source of controversy is that some members of the former communist elite maintained political influence in the MSZP. Indeed, many key MSZP politicians were active members or held leadership positions within the MSZMP (likeGyula Horn andLászló Kovács).
On economic issues, the Socialists have often been greater advocates ofliberal,free market policies than the conservative opposition, which has tended to favor more state interventionism in the economy through economic and price regulations, as well as through state ownership of key economic enterprises. The MSZP, in contrast, implemented a strong package of market reforms, austerity andprivatization in 1995–96, called theBokros package, when Hungary faced an economic and financial crisis. According to researchers, the elites of the Hungarian 'left' (MSZP and SZDSZ) have been differentiated from the 'right' by being more supportive of the classicalneo-liberal economic policies, while the 'right' (especially extreme right) has advocated more interventionist policies. In contrast, issues like church and state and former communists show alignment along the traditional left-right spectrum.[13] It is also noteworthy that, according to research, the MSZP elite's positions used to be closer to voters of the SZDSZ than to their own.[14]
Besides a more liberal approach to the economy overall, the MSZP differentiated itself from the conservative opposition through its more recent focus on transforming state social policy from a collection of measures that benefit the entire population, such as subsidies available to all citizens, to one based on financial and social need.
BesidesGyula Horn, the MSZP's most internationally recognized politicians wereFerenc Gyurcsány andLászló Kovács, a former member of theEuropean Commission, responsible for taxation.
The MSZP faced the voters for the first time at the1990 elections, the first free elections held in Hungary in 44 years. It was knocked down to fourth place with only 33 seats.
Nyers handed the leadership to Horn, Hungary's last Communist foreign minister. Horn led the MSZP to an outright majority at the1994 parliamentary election. Although the MSZP could have governed alone, he opted to form a coalition with the liberalAlliance of Free Democrats (SZDSZ). He not only wanted to allay concerns inside and outside Hungary of a former Communist party holding a majority, but needed the Free Democrats' votes to get economic reforms (what became the Bokros package) past his own party's left wing. Thus the MSZP was released from a so-called "political quarantine" imposed by the other Hungarian parties; during the first five years after the change of system, the other parties cooperated to shut out the MSZP from decision-making.
After being turned out of office in1998, the party was able to form a renewed centre-left coalition with the Free Democrats in2002.
At the2006 elections, MSZP won with 43.2% of party list votes, which gave it 190 representatives out of 386 in theParliament. The MSZP was therefore able to retain its coalition government from the previous term. In earlier elections, the MSZP polled 10.89% (1990), 32.98% (1994), 32.92% (1998) and 42.05% (2002).
After the successfulfees abolishment referendum, MSZP formed the firstminority government of Hungary, following the SZDSZ's backing out of the coalition with a deadline of 1 May 2008.
On 21 March 2009 Gyurcsány announced his resignation as Prime Minister due to failure management of theeconomic crisis.[15][16]Gordon Bajnai became the nominee of MSZP for the post of prime minister in March 2009[17] and he became Prime Minister on 14 April. Gyurcsány also resigned from his position of party chairman, which he had occupied since 2007.[18]
MSZP lost half of its supporters during theEuropean Parliament election in 2009, receiving only 17.37% of the votes and gaining four seats compared to the previous nine seats. This electoral defeat marked the end of thede facto two-party system in Hungary, which had lasted since 1998.
The Hungarian Socialist Party suffered a heavy defeat in the2010 election (won byFidesz with a two-thirds majority), gaining only 19.3% of the votes, and 59 seats in the parliament. Following the resignation ofIldikó Lendvai, the party's prime minister candidateAttila Mesterházy was elected Chairman of the Socialist Party.[19] Nevertheless, MSZP became the biggest opposition party in Hungary.
The left-wing fragmented after the 2010 election; at firstKatalin Szili left the MSZP to formSocial Union (SZU), following the similarly significant defeatedlocal elections in October 2010, nevertheless Gyurcsány's detachment was a much worse disaster for the Socialists. Initially, the former PM wanted to reform the party, but his goals remained in the minority. As a result, Gyurcsány, along with nine other members of the parliamentary group, left MSZP and establishedDemocratic Coalition (DK). Thus MSZP's number of MPs reduced to 48.[20]
The Socialist Party entered into an alliance with four other parties in January 2014 to contest theApril parliamentary election. Mesterházy was elected candidate for the Prime Minister position, but theUnity alliance failed to win. After that the electoral coalition disestablished.[21] On the2014 European Parliament election, MSZP suffered the largest defeat since the1990 parliamentary election, gaining third place and only 10% of the votes.[22] After the obvious failure, Mesterházy and the entire presidium of the Socialist Party resigned.[23][24]
József Tóbiás was elected leader of the Socialist Party on 19 July 2014 following the resignation of Mesterházy.[25] He also became leader of the parliamentary group in September 2014. During his leadership, the Socialist Party won a parliamentary by-election (2014) and an important mayoral by-election (Salgótarján), however the party itself was permanently pushed back to the third place by far-rightJobbik according to the opinion polls. Tóbiás did not support the full cooperation and unification of the left-wing opposition parties againstViktor Orbán. During the MSZP party congress in June 2016, he was defeated byGyula Molnár, a former Socialist MP and mayor, who succeeded him as party chairman.[26] In February 2016, the party decided to sell its headquarters at Jókai Street for financial reasons. In June 2018, Bertalan Tóth was elected president in the MSZP, shortly after the party suffered its worst electoral defeat since 1990.[27]
The party further declined in the2019 European election, only scoring 6.61% of votes (even in alliance withDialogue for Hungary) and being overtaken by theDemocratic Coalition andMomentum. In2019 local elections the party managed (due to cooperation with other parties) to win mayorships irÉrd andSzombathely. Also in these elections MSZP managed to win mayorships in those areas, where it never had a mayor since 1990 (e. g.Mohács).
The 2019 local election results caused resignations from the party on the local level (e. g.Szeged mayorLaszlo Botka).
In 2020, the party's congress supported a change to the party's structure. Instead of having one leader, the party would nominate two co-leaders – a man and woman (similar structure has been implemented in 2019 by theSocial Democratic Party of Germany).[28]
In political terms, the MSZP differentiates itself from its conservative opponents mainly in its rejection ofHungarian nationalism. The party is a member of theProgressive Alliance,[29] theSocialist International, and theParty of European Socialists (PES), and it holds a chairmanship and several vice-chairmanships in committees at theEuropean Parliament. The MSZP is acentre-left toleft-wing party, but it has historically beencentrist.[30]
| Election | Leader | SMCs | MMCs | Seats | +/– | Status | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Votes | % | |||||
| 1990 | Rezső Nyers | 504,995 | 10.18% (#4) | 534,897 | 10.89% (#4) | 33 / 386 | New | Opposition |
| 1994 | Gyula Horn | 1,689,081 | 31.27% (#1) | 1,781,867 | 32.99% (#1) | 209 / 386 |  176 | Supermajority (MSZP-SZDSZ) |
| 1998 | 1,332,412 | 29.82% (#1) | 1,446,138 | 32.25% (#1) | 134 / 386 |  75 | Opposition | |
| 2002 | Péter Medgyessy | 2,277,732 | 40.50% (#1) | 2,361,983 | 42.05% (#1) | 178 / 386 | 44 | Coalition (MSZP-SZDSZ) |
| 2006 | Ferenc Gyurcsány | 2,175,312 | 40.26% (#1) | 2,336,705 | 43.21% (#1) | 190 / 386 | 12 | Coalition (MSZP-SZDSZ) (2006-2008) (MSZP minority) (2008-2010) |
| 2010 | Attila Mesterházy | 1,088,374 | 21.28% (#2) | 990,428 | 19.30% (#2) | 59 / 386 | 131 | Opposition |
| Election | Leader | Constituency | Party list | Seats | +/– | Status | ||
| Votes | % | Votes | % | |||||
| 2014[a] | Attila Mesterházy | 1,317,879 | 26.85% (#2) | 1,290,806 | 25.57% (#2) | 29 / 199 | 30 | Opposition |
| 2018[b] | Gergely Karácsony | 622,458 | 11.31% (#3) | 682,701 | 11.91% (#3) | 17 / 199 | 12 | Opposition |
| 2022[c] | Bertalan Tóth Ágnes Kunhalmi | 1,983,708 | 36.90% (#2) | 1,947,331 | 34.44% (#2) | 10 / 199 | 7 | Opposition |
 | This section needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(January 2025) |
The image shows Single Member Constituencies (or SMCs) voting for MSZP in 1998, 2002, 2006 in dark red, while showing SMCs voting for MSZP in 2002 and 2006 in red. The dark red districts are considered the strongest positions of the party. Most if not all districts shown in dark red and red also voted for MSZP in 1994, a landslide victory for the party. So actually, dark red districts have an even longer uninterrupted voting history of supporting MSZP.
| Election | List leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/− | EP Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | László Kovács | 1,054,921 | 34.30 (#2) | 9 / 24 | New | PES |
| 2009 | Kinga Göncz | 503,140 | 17.37 (#2) | 4 / 22 | 5 | S&D |
| 2014 | Tibor Szanyi | 252,751 | 10.90 (#3) | 2 / 21 | 2 | |
| 2019[a] | Bertalan Tóth | 229,551 | 6.61 (#4) | 1 / 21 | 1 | |
| 2024[b] | Klára Dobrev | 367,162 | 8.03 (#3) | 0 / 21 | 1 | − |
| # | Image | Name | Entered office | Left office | Length of Leadership | Notice |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Rezső Nyers | 9 October 1989 | 27 May 1990 | 230 days | President of theMSZMP in 1989 |
| 2 | .jpg) | Gyula Horn | 27 May 1990 | 5 September 1998 | 8 years, 101 days | Prime Minister 1994–98 |
| 3 |  | László Kovács | 5 September 1998 | 16 October 2004 | 6 years, 41 days | Minister of Foreign Affairs 2002-04 |
| 4 |  | István Hiller | 16 October 2004 | 24 February 2007 | 2 years, 131 days | Minister of National Cultural Heritage 2003-05, Minister of Education and Culture 2006-10 |
| 5 |  | Ferenc Gyurcsány | 24 February 2007 | 5 April 2009 | 2 years, 40 days | Prime Minister 2004–09 |
| 6 | .JPG) | Ildikó Lendvai | 5 April 2009 | 10 July 2010 | 1 year, 96 days | |
| 7 |  | Attila Mesterházy | 10 July 2010 | 29 May 2014 | 3 years, 323 days | |
| – |  | László Botka (interim) | 31 May 2014 | 19 July 2014 | 49 days | Mayor ofSzeged since 2002 |
| 8 |  | József Tóbiás | 19 July 2014 | 25 June 2016 | 1 year, 342 days | |
| 9 | .jpg) | Gyula Molnár | 25 June 2016 | 17 June 2018 | 1 year, 357 days | Mayor ofBudapest XI. 2002–10 |
| 10 |  | Bertalan Tóth | 17 June 2018 | 22 October 2022 | 4 years, 127 days | Male co-chair after 2020 |
| 11 |  | Ágnes Kunhalmi | 19 September 2020 | 19 October 2024 | 4 years, 30 days | Female co-chair |
| 12 |  | Imre Komjáthi | 22 October 2022 | Incumbent | 3 years, 35 days | Male co-chair until 2024 |
The MSZP's nominal coalition partner, the Alliance of Free Democrats, will probably be in opposition in the next parliament, about half way in the political spectrum between the centrist MSZP and the right-wing led by Victor Orban of the Federation of Young Democrats.
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* 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. |
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