Alliance of Free Democrats

Infobox_Hungarian_Political_Party
party_name = Alliance of Free Democrats – the Hungarian Liberal Party
name_alt = Szabad Demokraták Szövetsége – a Magyar Liberális Párt
colour_html = blue
party_
leader = Gábor Fodor
foundation = 13 November 1988
ideology = Liberalism
international = Liberal International
european = ALDE
colours = Blue | headquarters = 1143 Budapest, XIV. Gizella utca 36.
website = [http://www.szdsz.hu/ www.szdsz.hu] The Alliance of Free Democrats – Hungarian Liberal Party (Hungarian: Szabad Demokraták Szövetsége – a Magyar Liberális Párt, abbreviation SZDSZ) is a liberal party in Hungary, led since June 2008 by Gábor Fodor (and previously by János Kóka). The SZDSZ is a member of the ELDR and of Liberal International. It draws its support predominantly from Budapest among the middle classes, liberal intellectuals and entrepreneurs.

Its origins lie in the illegal Democratic Opposition under the communist Kádár regime. This gave rise to the loosely organized Network of Free Initiatives (Szabad Kezdeményezések Hálózata) on May 1, 1988 and to the foundation of the SZDSZ as an opposition political party on November 13 1988. The party initially suggesting a radical agenda for changing the political, social and economic system in the country. It suffered a close defeat at the first free general elections of the Third Republic in 1990, thus becoming the leading opposition force in the first free Parliament. After the fall of the conservative government at the following 1994 elections, SZDSZ surprised many by entering into a coalition with the socialist party MSZP, legal successors to the communists MSZMP. Thus began a strategic alliance between the two parties that lasted for 14 years, ending only in 2008.

The heyday of the SZDSZ may be thought to have ended when it suffered heavy losses in the 1988 general elections. In 2002, it gained only 5.5% of the vote, returning 20 deputies to Parliament. Until its withdrawal from the coalition in May 2008, the SZDSZ had three portfolios. It also has a presence in the European Parliament, receiving 7.7% of the Hungarian vote and two members in the 2004 European Parliamentary Election.

In the 2006 elections, it gained no directly elected seats, but 6.5% of the list votes, thus securing 20 members in Hungary's 386-seat Parliament. (This was the first time that the party managed to increase its support compared with a previous general election.) The MSZP-SZDSZ coalition had a small majority in the new Parliament.

On March 31, 2008, various reform-related disagreements between the MSZP and SZDSZ led the SZDSZ leader János Kóka to announce that his party would quit the coalition by May 1, 2008. [http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080331/wl_nm/hungary_politics_dc] This also meant that the MSZP would have to form the first minority government in Hungary since the change of system.

However, the legitimacy of János Kóka's position as party president became questioned when it was discovered that some signatures of the delegates to the assembly electing him had been forged. Since he had won his position by a very small margin over Gábor Fodor, these votes might have changed the outcome. So a new leadership election was held in June [http://nol.hu/cikk/488203/] and Gábor Fodor was returned.

SZDSZ provided the first freely elected President of the Third Hungarian Republic, Árpád Göncz. The SZDSZ High Mayor of Budapest, Gábor Demszky has been in office continuously since 1990.

Parliamentary representation

Party Leaders

*23 February 1990 to 23 November 1991 János Kis
*November 23 1991 to November 13 1992 Péter Tölgyessy
*November 13 1992 to April 24 1997 Iván Pető
*April 24 1997 to June 20 1998 Gábor Kuncze
*June 20 1998 to December 2000 Bálint Magyar
*December 2000 to June 2001 Gábor Demszky
*June 2001 to March 31 2007 Gábor Kuncze
*March 31 2007 to June 7 2008 János Kóka
*June 7 2008 to present Gábor Fodor

ee also

*Liberalism
*Contributions to liberal theory
*Liberalism worldwide
*List of liberal parties
*Liberal democracy
*Liberalism and radicalism in Hungary

External links

* [http://www.szdsz.hu/ Alliance of Free Democrats] official site