Dr. Gabriella Selmeczi (born 21 June 1965) is a Hungarian jurist and politician, member of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

(MP) since the 1994 parliamentary election. Currently she is a spokesperson of the

Fidesz Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Alliance (; hu, Fidesz – Magyar Polgári Szövetség) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Hungary, led by Viktor Orbán. It was formed in 1988 under the name of Alliance of Young ...

Biography

Selmeczi was born in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

on 21 June 1965. She finished her secondary studies in her birthplace in 1983 and started her career in her parents' family business, where she worked for two years. She graduated as a business administrator from the College of Commerce and Catering in 1989. She obtained her next degree in journalism from Vitéz János Teacher's Training College in

Esztergom Esztergom ( ; german: Gran; la, Solva or ; sk, Ostrihom, known by alternative names) is a city with county rights in northern Hungary, northwest of the capital Budapest. It lies in Komárom-Esztergom County, on the right bank of the river Danu ...

where she studied from 1990 to 1991. She worked as an editor and reporter for the Municipal Television of Budaörs between 1990 and 1991. She was managing director of Intereska Trading Ltd. from 1991 until summer 1994. Parallel to her work as an MP she graduated as a lawyer at

Pázmány Péter Catholic University Pázmány Péter Catholic University (PPCU) ( hu, Pázmány Péter Katolikus Egyetem (''PPKE'')) is a private university in and near Budapest, Hungary, belonging to the Catholic Church and recognized by the state. Founded in 1635, the PPCU is ...

. She founded the

Budaörs Budaörs (; german: Wudersch; hr, Jerša, or ; la, Vicus Teuto) is a town in Pest County, Budapest metropolitan area, Hungary. Location A suburb of Budapest, the town lies among the Buda and Csiki hills and the Tétény plateau in the Buda� ...

branch of Fidesz in 1990. In the following year, she was elected to the party's local government advisory board and later the party's local government committee. She was a member of the party's National Board from 1992 until 1994. She was vice-president of the party from 1993 until 1994. From 1993 to 2003, she was president of the party's Pest County branch. She was appointed regional commissioner in autumn 2003. She is one of the founders of the Foundation for a World without Cancer. In 2003, she launched a series of auctions aimed to provide support for children with cancer. Selmeczi was elected to the General Assembly of Budaörs from the party's list in the 1990 local elections. She has been an MP since 1994 elected from the party's Pest County Regional List in 1994, and representing Budaörs (Pest County Constituency IX) between 1998 and 2002. She was parliamentary secretary of the Prime Minister's Office for social security funds from 1998 until 1999. She resigned after the "Lockheed scandal". She was deputy leader of the party's parliamentary group from February 2000 until the end of the parliamentary term. She secured a seat in Parliament from her party's Pest County Regional List in the 2002 parliamentary election. She was elected deputy chair of the Committee on Health in mid-May 2002. She was deputy leader of her party's parliamentary group in the Parliament. In the general elections held in 2006 and

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, she was elected from the Pest County Regional List. She was elected member of the Economic and Information Technology Committee on 30 May 2006. Selmeczi was appointed Commissioner in defense of people's savings in October 2010. Selmeczi was re-elected MP via

Fidesz–KDNP Fidesz–KDNP Party Alliance ( hu, Fidesz–KDNP pártszövetség), formerly also known as the Alliance of Hungarian Solidarity ( hu, Magyar Szolidaritás Szövetsége), is a right-wing national conservative political alliance of two political pa ...

national list in the

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and 2018 parliamentary elections. She is a member of the Legislative Committee and of the Welfare Committee since 2014. She served as Chairperson of the latter committee from 2014 to 2018.

Controversy

Népszava ''Népszava'' (meaning "People's Word" in English) is a social-democratic Hungarian language newspaper published in Hungary. History and profile ''Népszava'' is Hungary's eldest continuous print publication and as of October 2019 the last and ...

'' learned in May 1999 that state secretaries Selmeczi, István Balsay, and MP Béla Gyuricza sent a letter to

U.S. Senators The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

Jesse Helms Jesse Alexander Helms Jr. (October 18, 1921 – July 4, 2008) was an American politician. A leader in the conservative movement, he served as a senator from North Carolina from 1973 to 2003. As chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee ...

and Joe Biden. The letter, signed by 31 Fidesz MPs, asked the senators to appoint Steven M. Jones, a high-ranking financial manager of

Lockheed Martin The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American aerospace, arms, defense, information security, and technology corporation with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta in March 1995. It ...

, as the next

United States Ambassador to Hungary This is a list of ambassadors of the United States to Hungary. Until 1867 Hungary had been part of the Austrian Empire, when the empire became Austria-Hungary. Hungary had no separate diplomatic relations with other nations. The United States had ...

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reported on the event, and there was considerable pressure on Prime Minister

Viktor Orbán Viktor Mihály Orbán (; born 31 May 1963) is a Hungarian politician who has served as prime minister of Hungary since 2010, previously holding the office from 1998 to 2002. He has presided over Fidesz since 1993, with a brief break between 20 ...

to do something. The scandal even reached the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

and the

United States State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other n ...

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

and

Madeleine Albright Madeleine Jana Korbel Albright (born Marie Jana Korbelová; May 15, 1937 – March 23, 2022) was an American diplomat and political scientist who served as the 64th United States secretary of state from 1997 to 2001. A member of the Democratic ...

expressed their total confidence in Ambassador

Peter Tufo Peter Francis Tufo (born April 19, 1938) is an American former diplomat who served as the U.S. Ambassador to Hungary from 1997 to 2001 and helped found the law firm Tufo, Johnston & Zuccotti in 1970. Biography Prior to his appointment as U. ...

, who still had two years to go. Balsay and Selmeczi resigned in 1999.Commissioner in defense of people’s savings: Gabriella Selmeczi
/ref>

References