Hungarian Workers' Party

Hungarian Workers' Party
Magyar Munkáspárt
Leader Gyula Thürmer
Founded 17 December 1989
Split from Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party
Headquarters H-1082 Budapest, VIII. Baross u. 61.
Newspaper A Szabadság
Youth wing Baloldali Front
Ideology Communism
Marxism–Leninism
Euroscepticism
Political position Far-left[1]
European affiliation Initiative of Communist and Workers' Parties
International affiliation International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties (IMCWP)
International Communist Seminar
European Parliament group None
Colours Red
National Assembly
0 / 199
County Assemblies
0 / 419
Website
www.munkaspart.hu

The Hungarian Workers' Party (Hungarian: Magyar Munkáspárt) is a communist party in Hungary led by Gyula Thürmer. Established after the fall of the communist Hungarian People's Republic, the party has yet to win a seat in the Hungarian parliament. Until May 2009 it was a member of the Party of the European Left.

History

The party was established as the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party on 17 December 1989 as a successor party of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party (MSZMP) by a small group of old MSZMP members who opposed its transformation into the Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP). Among them was Károly Grósz, the last general secretary of the old MSZMP, who became the new party's acting chairman

In the 1990 elections it received around 3% of the national vote, the largest share for a party that failed to win a seat.[2][3]

In 1993 the party adopted the name Workers' Party, and in the same year a group of hard-liners broke away to form another Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party. In the 1994 elections, the party won a similar share of the vote, again emerging as the largest party without a seat. Despite increasing its vote share to around 4% in the 1998 elections, the party again remained seatless. In the 2002 elections, the party's vote share fell to around 2%, and for the first time since 1990, not the largest party without parliamentary representation.[2][3]

On 12 November 2005 it became the Hungarian Communist Workers' Party when a split led to the formation of the Workers' Party of Hungary 2006 led by János Fratanolo. In the 2006 elections the party received less than 0.5% of the national vote, whilst in the 2010 elections, its vote share fell to just 0.1%. On 11 May 2013 the party was renamed again, this time becoming the Hungarian Workers' Party due to a law passed the previous year banning the public use of names associated with "authoritarian regimes of the 20th century."[4] In the 2014 parliamentary election, the party received 0.56% of the votes, again the largest party without parliamentary seats.

On the question of the 2016 migrant quota referendum, the party called for a "no" vote, expressing opposition to what it perceives as "EU aggression" against Hungary.

Ideology

The party opposed Hungary joining NATO. In 1996 the party organised a countrywide collection of signatures for a referendum on NATO membership. This HCWP-led referendum drive failed, although another referendum on NATO membership was held in 1997, which resulted in a vote in favour. The party continues to oppose the country's participation in NATO and other military organisations. It campaigns to have all Hungarian forces returned from abroad and to reduce the military budget. The party opposed Hungary's participation in the "democratisation" program that has previously targeted the governments of Serbia and Belarus and strongly opposed NATO campaigns in Yugoslavia against Slobodan Milošević and the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Other foreign policies are in favour of

  • a peaceful and just settlement of the Middle East crisis, in favour of the "progressive" Arab countries.
  • a foreign policy based upon "good relations" with all parts of the world.

Election results

For the Hungarian Parliament:

Elections Number of votes
(1st round)		 Percentage of votes
(1st round)		 Number of votes
(2nd round)		 Percentage of votes
(2nd round)		 Number of seats Percentage of seats Role played in Parliament
1990 180,889 3.68% 8 640 0.25%
0 / 386
 Decrease 288 extra-parliamentary
1994 172,117 3.19% 6 268 0.15%
0 / 386
 Steady 0 extra-parliamentary
1998 183,064 4.08% 10 861 2.25%
0 / 386
 Steady 0 extra-parliamentary
2002 121,503 2.16% — —
0 / 386
 Steady 0 extra-parliamentary
2006 21,955 0.41% — —
0 / 386
 Steady 0 extra-parliamentary
2010 5,606 0.11% — —
0 / 386
 Steady 0 extra-parliamentary
2014 27,670 0.58% N/A N/A
0 / 199
 Steady 0 extra-parliamentary
2018 15,640 0.27% N/A N/A
0 / 199
 Steady 0 extra-parliamentary

For the European Parliament:

Elections Number of votes Percentage of votes Number of seats Group in the European Parliament Subgroup in the European Parliament
2004 56,221 1,83% 0 — —
2009 27,829 0,96% 0 — —

References

  1. ↑ Jeffries, Ian (2002), Eastern Europe at the Turn of the Twenty-First Century: A guide to the economies in transition, Routledge, p. 212
  2. 1 2 Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p924 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
  3. 1 2 Nohlen & Stöver, p932
  4. ↑ "Hungarian CWP, New name of the Hungarian CWP". Solidnet. 14 May 2013. Retrieved September 18, 2018.
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