The (in , 5 April, 2002party. As of
2007 , Fidesz is the largest
Opposition party in Hungary. It is a member of the
European People's Party (EPP).
The party was founded in
1988 , named simply Fidesz (''Fiatal Demokraták Szövetsége'', Alliance of Young Democrats), originally as a youthful
Libertarian , anticommunist party. Fidesz was founded by young democrats, mainly students, who were persecuted by the communist party and had to meet in small, clandestine groups. The movement became a major force in many areas of modern Hungarian history, engaging itself on every level in the development of a democratic system, its members being active as guardians of fundamental human rights. The membership had an upper age limit of 35 years (this requirement was abolished at the 1993 congress).
In
1989 Fidesz won the
Rafto Prize . The Hungarian youth opposition movement was represented by one of its leaders, Dr
Péter Molnár , who became a Member of Parliament in Hungary.
Fidesz received 8.95% (1990), 7.02% (1994) and 29.48% (1998).
After its disappointing result in the
1994 elections, Fidesz changed its political position from liberal to conservative. In
1995 , it added "Hungarian Civic Party" (''Magyar Polgári Párt'') to its shortened name. The conservative turn caused a severe split in the membership. Péter Molnár left the party, as well as
Gábor Fodor and
Klára Ungár , who joined the liberal
Alliance Of Free Democrats .
Fidesz gained power in
1998 under leader and
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán , who governed Hungary in coalition with the smaller
Hungarian Democratic Forum and the
Independent Smallholders' Party .
The party became embroiled in corruption scandals involving government subsidies and contracts, and the tone of political debate in the build up to the 2002 General Election became increasingly bitter, with Fidesz MPs accusing the opposition of being "traitors." The opposition socialists responded by walking out of Parliament.
It narrowly lost the
2002 Elections to the
Hungarian Socialist Party , by 41.07% to the Socialists' 42.05%. Fidesz had 169 members of the
Hungarian National Assembly , out of a total of 386. Following the defeat, the municipal elections in October saw huge Fidesz losses.
In the spring of
2003 , Fidesz took its current name, "Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Union".
It was the most successful party in the
2004 European Parliamentary Elections , gaining 47.4% of the vote and electing 12
MEPs including
Lívia Járóka , the second
Roma MEP .
Some consider the election of Dr.
László Sólyom as the new
President Of Hungary as the most recent success of the party. He was endorsed by Védegylet, an
NGO including people from the whole political spectrum. His activity doesn't entirely overlap with the conservative ideals and he championed for elements of both political wings with a selective, but conscious choice of values. http://index.hu/politika/belfold/kernt8094/
In 2005 FIDESZ and the Christian
KDNP formed an alliance for the
2006 Elections . Despite winning 42.0% of the list votes and 164 representatives out of 386 in
Parliament , they were beaten by the socialist and liberal coalition of
MSZP and
SZDSZ .
On October 1, 2006, Fidesz "won" the municipal elections, which may counterbalance the Socialist Party (MSZP)-led government's power to some extent. According to preliminary results Fidesz won 15 of 23 mayoralties in Hungary's largest cities—although its candidate narrowly lost the city of Budapest to a member of the Liberal Party—and majorities in 18 out of 20 regional assemblies.
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2006/10/03/2003330242
Fidesz switched from
Liberalism to
Conservatism in the mid-90's, which caused a break within the party, many of its members left it, mainly for the other liberal party,
SZDSZ which then joined a coalition with the socialist party
MSZP right after the 1994 elections.
Many political scientists and mainstream media also describe Fidesz as a , 5 April, 2002 In the same time, Fidesz has refused cooperation with the extremist
MIÉP ,
Institute of Race Relations. Profile of the parliamentary extreme-Right which was the main far-right party in Hungary.
Extremism in Europe
Prominent Fidesz members have repeatedly used anti-Communist rhetoric, playing to the
Totalitarian heritage of the party's main opponent, MSZP. There are, however, several former Communist Party members in the senior ranks of Fidesz as well.
1
Reults on the lists:
In 2002 the Fidesz list ran together with the
MDF . Before the 2006 elections
MDF separated from the party, but then
KDNP joined the alliance.
