The ( 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
Communist s 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 .
