Most–Híd

Most–Híd ([ˈmɔst ˈhiːd]; from the Slovak and Hungarian words for "bridge") is an inter-ethnic political party in Slovakia. Its programme calls for greater cooperation between the country's Hungarian minority and ethnic Slovak majority. It was one of four parties in the government coalition, but lost all its seats in the National Council in the 2020 Slovak parliamentary election.

Most–Híd
LeaderLászló Solymos
Founded30 June 2009
Split fromParty of the Hungarian Coalition
Membership (2015)5,350[1]
IdeologyLiberal conservatism[2][3]
Hungarian minority interests[3][4]
Pro-Europeanism[5]
Political positionCentre[6] to centre-right[7]
European affiliationEuropean People's Party
European Parliament groupEuropean People's Party
Colours     Orange
National Council
0 / 150
European Parliament
0 / 13
Self-Governing Region
0 / 8
Regional Parliament
17 / 408
Local councils
915 / 20,646
Website
http://www.most-hid.sk/

The party was formed in June 2009 by dissidents from the Party of the Hungarian Coalition (SMK-MKP), which they accused of being too nationalistic. Most–Híd seeks to offer an alternative to ethnic politics by promoting inter-ethnic cooperation. Led by the SMK-MKP's former chairman Béla Bugár, the party claims to have an electorate that is two-thirds ethnic Hungarian and one-third ethnic Slovak.

History

The party was established on 30 June 2009 by Béla Bugár, Gábor Gál, László A. Nagy, Tibor Bastrnák and Zsolt Simon, who had previously left the Party of the Hungarian Coalition (SMK-MKP). Béla Bugár, who had also been the president of his former party for 10 years, was elected its president. It was established as an inter-ethnic Hungarian-Slovak alternative to the Party of the Hungarian Coalition. This commitment was cemented by electing Rudolf Chmel, an ethnic Slovak, as one of the party's vice presidents representing.

The party seeks to represent the interests of the ethnic Hungarians while working together with the Slovaks.[8] According to Peter Huncik about 60 to 65 percent members are Hungarians, while 35 to 40 are Slovaks.[9] This programme and political ideology manifested itself in the party first taking part in the centre-right Radičová-government between 2010 and 2012, and also cooperating with the centre-left Fico government in minority issues in the next electoral cycle.

Polls from mid-September 2009 gave Most–Híd between 3 and 5.6 percent.[10] An opinion poll by Focus in May 2010 gave Most–Híd 5.6% of the vote.[11] In the 2010 election, the party received 8.12% of the popular vote, and thus won fourteen seats in the National Council. This, however, included four seats for the Civic Conservative Party's politicians embedded within the party's list of candidates. At the same time, Most–Híd's main rival, SMK-MKP fell short of the 5% threshold and thus did not gain any seats.

In 2010, Most–Híd entered the four-party government of Iveta Radičová, and sought to advance its agenda, including in language rights, citizenship, agriculture and environmental policy. The government, however, turned out to be unstable and finally collapsed during October 2011, leading to snap elections. After months of steady polling between 6 and 9 percents, the party received 6.89% of the popular vote in the 2012 elections, winning 13 seats. As in 2010, SMK-MKP failed to reach the required threshold, leaving Most–Híd as the only parliamentary party representing the interest of the Hungarian minority in Slovakia.

In the 2014 European elections, Most–Híd came in eighth place nationally, receiving 5.83% of the vote and electing 1 MEP.[12]

In the 2016 Slovak parliamentary election, Most–Híd received 6.50% of the vote — 11 seats — and joined Fico's Third Cabinet as a coalition partner.

Election results

National Council
Year Vote Vote % Seats Place Government
2010 205,538 8.12
14 / 150
 5th Yes
2012 176,088 6.89
13 / 150
 4th No
2016 169,593 6.50
11 / 150
 7th Yes
2020 59,174 2.05
0 / 150
 13th Extraparliamentary

European Parliament
Year Vote Vote % Seats Place
2014 32,708 5.83
1 / 13
 8th
2019 25,562 2.59
0 / 13
 11th

Presidential
Election Candidate First round result Second round result
Votes %Votes Result Votes %Votes Result
2014 Pavol Hrušovský 63,298 3.30 6th —
2019 Béla Bugár 66,667 3.10 6th —

Footnotes
  1. "Najbohatšiu členskú základňu si držia Smer-SD, KDH a SMK". Hlavné Správy. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  2. Stískala, Jozef (2012), "Party System of Slovak Republic and its Stability after 2010 and 2012 Elections in Comparative Perspective", Slovak Journal of Political Sciences, 12 (3): 233
  3. Nordsieck, Wolfram (2020). "Slovakia". Parties and Elections in Europe. Retrieved 4 March 2020.
  4. Ladislav Cabada; Vít Hloušek; Petr Jurek (23 January 2014). Party Systems in East Central Europe. Lexington Books. pp. 89–. ISBN 978-0-7391-8277-2.
  5. most-hid-regiony.sk, Strana Most - Híd a Európska ľudová strana (PDF) (in Slovak), retrieved 29 May 2017
  6. Iveta Radicová Takes Charge of New Center-Right Coalition in Slovakia, Friends of Slovakia, archived from the original on 4 March 2016, retrieved 11 March 2012
  7. "Most-Híd agrees to talk, centre-right coalition in sight". Spectator.sme.sk. 9 March 2016. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
  8. Kommentar posten (30 June 2009). "Neue Partei der "Ungarischen Koalition" – Slowakei – derStandard.at " International". Derstandard.at. Retrieved 15 October 2011.
  9. Stefan Bos (12 June 2010). "Slovakia Votes Amid Scandals, Nationalist Tensions". Budapest: .voanews.com. Retrieved 15 October 2011.
  10. Kommentar posten. "Umfragen: Regierungspartei Smer verliert – Slowakei – derStandard.at " International". Derstandard.at. Retrieved 15 October 2011.
  11. "The Slovak Spectator: Focus poll finds that parliamentary elections would end in stalemate". Spectator.sme.sk. Retrieved 15 October 2011.
  12. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 28 May 2014. Retrieved 18 May 2017.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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