Alliance of Free Democrats

Alliance of Free Democrats – the Hungarian Liberal Party Szabad Demokraták Szövetsége – a Magyar Liberális Párt
Leader	[Viktor Szabadai]]
Founded	13 November 1988
Headquarters	1143 Budapest, XIV. Gizella utca 36.
Ideology	Liberalism
International affiliation	Liberal International
European affiliation	European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party
European Parliament Group	Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (2004-2009)
Official colours	Blue
National Assembly:
European Parliament:
Website
http://www.szdsz.hu/
Politics of Hungary Political parties Elections

The Alliance of Free Democrats – Hungarian Liberal Party (Hungarian: Szabad Demokraták Szövetsége – a Magyar Liberális Párt, abbreviation SZDSZ) is a liberal party in Hungary, led since July 2010 by Viktor Szabadai (previously by Gábor Fodor). The SZDSZ is a member of the ELDR and of Liberal International. It draws its support predominantly from Budapest among the middle classes, liberal intellectuals and entrepreneurs.

Its origins lie in the illegal Democratic Opposition under the communist rule of János Kádár. This gave rise to the loosely organized Network of Free Initiatives (Szabad Kezdeményezések Hálózata) on May 1, 1988 and to the foundation of the SZDSZ as an opposition political party on November 13, 1988. The party initially suggesting 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 the Third Republic in 1990, thus becoming the leading opposition force in the first free Parliament. After the fall of the conservative government at the following 1994 elections, SZDSZ surprised many by entering into a coalition with the socialist party MSZP, legal successors to the communists MSZMP. Thus began a strategic alliance between the two parties that lasted for 14 years, ending only in 2008.

The heyday of the SZDSZ may be thought to have ended when it suffered heavy losses in the 1998 general elections. In 2002, it gained only 5.5% of the vote, returning 20 deputies to Parliament. Until its withdrawal from the coalition in May 2008, the SZDSZ had three portfolios. It also has a delegation in the European Parliament, receiving 7.7% of the Hungarian vote and two members in the 2004 European Parliamentary Election.

In the 2006 elections, it gained no directly elected seats, but 6.5% of the list votes, thus securing 20 members in Hungary's 386-seat Parliament. (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 Parliament.

On March 31, 2008, various reform-related disagreements between the MSZP and SZDSZ led the SZDSZ leader János Kóka to announce that his party would quit the coalition by May 1, 2008.[1] This also meant that the MSZP would have to form the first minority government in Hungary since the change of system.

However, the legitimacy of János 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 Gábor Fodor, these votes might have changed the outcome. So a new leadership election was held in June [2] and Gábor Fodor was returned.

SZDSZ provided the first freely elected President of the Third Hungarian Republic, Árpád Göncz. The SZDSZ High Mayor of Budapest, Gábor Demszky was in office continuously since 1990 till 2010, when he was replaced by István Tarlós.

In the 2009 June 7 EU parliamentary elections SZDSZ was essentially destroyed by the voters, having won no seats and earning just 2,16% of the total votes, less than half of the minimum 5% needed to secure representation. The party did not even receive 5% in the capital Budapest, its traditional stronghold. Party president Gábor Fodor offered his resignation as soon as the official tally was announced at 10:00 pm.

In the 2010 parliamentary elections, SZDSZ failed to win any seats. The party was even wiped off the map in Budapest.

Parliamentary representation

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 31, 2007 Gábor Kuncze
• March 31, 2007 to June 7, 2008 János Kóka
• June 7, 2008 to July 12, 2009 Gábor Fodor
• July 12, 2009 to May 29, 2010 Attila Retkes
• July 16, 2010: Viktor Szabadai^[1] (president pro tempore)

See also

• Liberalism
• Contributions to liberal theory
• Liberalism worldwide
• List of liberal parties
• Liberal democracy
• Liberalism and radicalism in Hungary

References

External links

• Official website