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[[Category:Liberal parties]]
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[[Category:Political parties in Hungary]]
[[Category:Political parties in Hungary]]

Revision as of 18:37, 6 August 2006

File:Szdsz.png
Stylized party logo
File:Alliance of Free Democrats logo.png
Simple party logo

The Alliance of Free Democrats - the Hungarian Liberal Party (Hungarian: Szabad Demokraták Szövetsége - a Magyar Liberális Párt, abbreviation SZDSZ) is a liberal party in Hungary, led by Gábor Kuncze. It is a member of the ELDR and of Liberal International. The SZDSZ draws it support predominantly from the cities. Right-wing opponents frequently feature the party in conspiracy theories and claim it a device of the Jewish and various other minorities.

It was founded in November 1988 as an opposition party to the communists and draws support mostly from the middle classes, liberal intellectuals and entrepreneurs. 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 is, however, a coalition partner with the ruling Hungarian Socialist Party. Presently SZDSZ is in charge of four government ministries, the most visible and most disputed policies coming from the Ministry of Education. In the 2004 European Parliamentary Election it recovered a little to 7.7% and elected 2 MEPs. At the 2006 elections, it gained with 6.5 % of the list votes 20 representatives out of 386 in the Parliament (this was the first time that it raised its support) and 20 of the 386 seats.

SZDSZ gave the first freely elected President of the Third Hungarian Republic, Árpád Göncz and the Mayor of Budapest, Gábor Demszky from 1990.

Party Leaders

Ministries led by SZDSZ

  • Ministry of Economy and Transport (Minister: János Kóka)
  • Ministry of Helath (Minister: Dr. med. Lajos Molnár)
  • Ministry of Environment and Water (Minister: Miklós Persányi)

See also