The former main office building of Fidesz
The Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Union (in Hungarian: Fidesz – Magyar Polgári Szövetség) is a large centre-right conservative and Christian Democratic political party in Hungary; as of 2006, it is the largest opposition party.
It was founded in 1988, named simply Fidesz (Fiatal Demokraták Szövetsége, Alliance of Young Democrats), originally as a youthful libertarian party against communism. Fidesz was founded by young democrats, mainly students, who were persecuted by the communist party and had to meet in small, clandestine groups. The movement became a major force in many areas of modern Hungarian history, engaging itself on every level in the development of a democratic system, its members being active as guardians of fundamental human rights.
In 1989 Fidesz won the Rafto Prize. The Hungarian youth opposition movement was represented by one of its leaders, Dr Péter Molnár, who became a Member of Parliament in Hungary.
After its disappointing result in the 1994 election, Fidesz changed its political position from liberal to conservative. In 1995, it added "Hungarian Civic Party" (Magyar Polgári Párt) to its shortened name. The conservative turn caused a severe split in the membership. Péter Molnár left the party, as well as Gábor Fodor and Klára Ungár, who joined the liberal Alliance of Free Democrats.
Fidesz gained power in 1998 under leader and Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who governed Hungary in coalition with the smaller Hungarian Democratic Forum and the Independent Smallholders' Party.
It lost the 2002 elections to the Hungarian Socialist Party, by 41.07% to the Socialists' 42.05%. Fidesz had 169 members of the Hungarian National Assembly, out of a total of 386. In earlier elections, it got 8.95% (1990), 7.02% (1994) and 29.48% (1998).
Fidesz took its current name in the spring of 2003, "Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Union".
It was the most successful party in the 2004 European Parliamentary Elections, gaining 47.4% of the vote and electing 12 MEPs including Lívia Járóka, the second Roma MEP.
Some consider the election of Dr. László Sólyom as the new President of Hungary as the most recent success of the party. However, he was endorsed by Védegylet, an NGO including people from the whole political spectrum, his activity doesn't entirely overlap with the conservative ideals and he championed for elements of both political wings with a selective, but conscious choice of values.
In 2005 FIDESZ and the Christian KDNP formed an alliance for the 2006 elections.
Results
Reults on the lists:
| year |
result |
voters |
| 1990 |
8.95% |
439481 |
| 1994 |
7.02% |
379295 |
| 1998 |
28.18% |
1263522 |
| 2002 |
41.07% |
2306763 |
| 2006 |
42.03% |
2272979 |
In 2002 the Fidesz list was together with the MDF, and in 2006 with the KDNP.
External links
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