Hungary

Index

Hungary Main Page
Wars Cost Hungary Much of Its Land
Communist Party Takes Control
Hungary Makes Difficult Transition to Democracy
The Fidesz Party Forms a New Government
European Union Warns Hungary
New Amendment to the Constitution Causes Alarm

The Fidesz Party Forms a New Government

In a decisive victory, Viktor Orban and his center-right political party, Fidesz, won a two-thirds majority in parliamentary elections in April 2010, taking 263 of 386 seats. The ruling party, the Socialists, won just 59 seats, and the far-right Jobbik party and a new liberal-green group, LMP (Politics Can be Different), took the remaining 63. The Jobbik party, with its black-clad paramilitary and anti-Semitic extremism, has worried Hungarians and international leaders alike, particularly now that it has entered parliament for the first time. Economic hardship in Hungary has fueled the nationalistic party, but the newly strong majority of the Fidesz party means that it won't have to negotiate with the Jobbiks, thus weakening their power.

Orban was appointed prime minister. He introduced several laws that increased government control over the media, judiciary, and central bank. In April 2011, parliament approved a new "majoritarian" constitution, which went into effect in January 2012 to widespread disapproval and fear that the document consolidated the power of Fidesz at the expense of democracy. In a rare display of unity, opposition groups joined together in early January and organized protests against the new constitution. About 30,000 people participated.