The Hungarian Democratic People's Party ( hu, Magyar Demokrata Néppárt; MDNP) was a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

between 1996 and 2005.

History

The

national conservative National conservatism is a nationalist variant of conservatism that concentrates on upholding national and cultural identity. National conservatives usually combine nationalism with conservative stances promoting traditional cultural values, fa ...

party formed on 4 March 1996, when

Iván Szabó Iván Szabó (8 January 1934 – 4 August 2005) was a Hungary, Hungarian politician, who served as Minister of Finance between 1993 and 1994. He joined to the Hungarian Democratic Forum in 1988. He was chosen to the party's presidency in 1990. Af ...

and his supporters left

Hungarian Democratic Forum The Hungarian Democratic Forum ( hu, Magyar Demokrata Fórum, MDF) was a centre-right political party in Hungary. It had a Hungarian nationalist, national-conservative, Christian-democratic ideology. The party was represented continuously in the ...

(MDF) following Szabó's defeat against

Sándor Lezsák Sándor Lezsák (born 30 October 1949) is a Hungarian poet, teacher and politician. Between 2 April 2012 and 10 May 2012, Lezsák was temporarily the Speaker of the National Assembly of Hungary, as the resignation of Pál Schmitt led to Speaker ...

at the party leadership election. 15 MPs, including several prominent politicians, such as György Szabad,

Géza Jeszenszky Géza Jeszenszky (born 10 November 1941) is a Hungarian politician and associate professor, former Minister of Foreign Affairs and a former ambassador to the United States. He was ambassador of Hungary to Norway and Iceland from 2011 to 2014. Fa ...

and Imre Kónya, formed a parliamentary group and Szabó became its leader. The MDNP did not hit the 5% threshold contrary at the 1998 parliamentary election, as a result Szabó resigned from his position. He was replaced by Erzsébet Pusztai. Under her leadership, the party joined the moderate centre alliance of Christian Democratic People's Party (KDNP), Alliance of Green Democrats (ZDSZ) and Third Way for Hungary (HOM), which formed Centre Party ( hu, Centrum).

Mihály Kupa Mihály Kupa (born 3 April 1941) is a Hungarian politician, who served as Minister of Finance between 1990 and 1993. He was arrested in 1958 for ten months. He finished his studies at the Karl Marx University of Economic Sciences in 1969. After ...

's alliance won 3.9% of the popular vote and no seats at the 2002 parliamentary election. József Szabó was elected the new president of the MDNP in June 2002. MDNP supported MDF at

2004 European Parliament election The 2004 European Parliament election was held between 10 and 13 June 2004 in the 25 member states of the European Union, using varying election days according to local custom. The European Parliamental parties could not be voted for, but electe ...

. The unusual alliance of centre-right and centre-left groups hindered the Centre Party's effectiveness and, eventually, two of the founding political formations, KDNP and MDNP quit the party on 31 December 2004. the Hungarian Democratic People's Party re-merged with the Hungarian Democratic Forum on 2 April 2005.

Presidents of the MDNP

(1996–1998) * Erzsébet Pusztai (1998–2002) *

József Szabó József Szabó (born 10 March 1969) is a retired Hungarian swimmer. He competed in three individual events at the 1988 Olympics and won a gold medal in the 200 m breaststroke; he placed fourth in the 400 m and 24th in the 200 m medley eve ...

(2002–2005)

Parliamentary representation

The 15-member parliamentary group of Hungarian Democratic People's Party formed on 11 March 1996: Leader *

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

(1993–1994) Deputy Leaders * Erzsébet Pusztai, later President of the MDNP (1998–2002) *

György Raskó György () is a Hungarian version of the name ''George''. Some notable people with this given name: * György Alexits, as a Hungarian mathematician * György Almásy, Hungarian asiologist, traveler, zoologist and ethnographer, father of László ...

agrarian entrepreneur * György Szabad, Speaker of the National Assembly (1990–1994) Members *

Etelka Barsi-Pataky Etelka Barsi-Pataky (15 September 1941, Budapest – 4 February 2018) was a Hungarian politician. From 2004 to 2009, she was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) with Fidesz, part of the European People's Party. She sat on the European Pa ...

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

(2004–2009) *

László Bogár László () is a Hungarian male given name and surname after the King-Knight Saint Ladislaus I of Hungary (1077–1095). It derives from Ladislav, a variant of Vladislav. Other versions are Lessl or Laszly. The name has a history of being freque ...

economist, publicist *

Gabriella Farkas Gabriella may refer to: * Gabriella (given name), a feminine given name * ''Gabriella di Vergy'', an opera seria by Gaetano Donizetti (1826, revised 1838), and an opera by Mercadante (1828), based on the tragedy ''Gabrielle de Vergy'' by Dormont De ...

jurist *

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

(1990–1994) *

Tamás Katona Tamás Katona (2 February 1932 – 28 June 2013)Imre Kónya,

Ministry of Interior An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...

(1993–1994) * Katalin Kónya-Kutrucz jurist, wife of Imre Kónya * Ferenc Kulin, Leader of the MDF parliamentary group (1993–1994) * Tamás Szabó, Minister for Privatisation (1992–1994) * Tihamér Tóth jurist * Attila Zsigmond, Director-General of Budapest Gallery

Electoral results

National Assembly

¹ MDNP was a member of the alliance of Centre Party

References

{{Hungarian political parties Defunct political parties in Hungary 1996 establishments in Hungary 2005 disestablishments in Hungary