Imre Mécs (4 September 1933 – 19 January 2023) was a Hungarian politician. Following the

Hungarian Revolution of 1956 The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 (23 October – 10 November 1956; hu, 1956-os forradalom), also known as the Hungarian Uprising, was a countrywide revolution against the government of the Hungarian People's Republic (1949–1989) and the Hunga ...

, he was sentenced to death, then his sentence was mitigated to a prison sentence. He was released in 1963 and worked as an electrical engineer. Later he became a founding member of the

Alliance of Free Democrats The Alliance of Free Democrats – Hungarian Liberal Party ( hu, Szabad Demokraták Szövetsége – a Magyar Liberális Párt, SZDSZ) was a liberal political party in Hungary. The SZDSZ was a member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats ...

(SZDSZ). He was elected on the SZDSZ party ticket to the Hungarian Parliament in 1990 and served several consecutive terms. Over differences with his party, he quit SZDSZ and was elected on the

Hungarian Socialist Party The Hungarian Socialist Party ( hu, Magyar Szocialista Párt), commonly known by its acronym MSZP, is a centre-left social-democratic and pro-European political party in Hungary. It was founded on 7 October, 1989 as a post-communist evolution a ...

(MSZP) ticket (but not a member of) in 2006. He did not manage to win a seat in the 2010 elections, ending his parliamentary career. In January 2011 he rejoined his old party, SZDSZ. From 1994 to 1998 he was the chairman of the parliamentary committee of national defense. Until 1996 he was one of SZDSZ's leaders (''ügyvivő'') and he also ran for the position of SZDSZ party chairman, but his candidacy was unsuccessful. He came into some conflict with SZDSZ over the 2005 presidential election. Most of SZDSZ decided to abstain while Mécs voted for MSZP nominee

Katalin Szili Katalin Szili (born 13 May 1956) is a Hungarian politician and jurist, a former Member of the National Assembly, who served as Speaker of the National Assembly from 2002 to 2009. Following an administrative career in the Hungarian People's Rep ...

. Because of this vote he was later accused of disloyalty towards SZDSZ. In 2010 Mécs proposed a small change to the constitution, which still at that time referred to "the party", implying

one party rule A one-party state, single-party state, one-party system, or single-party system is a type of sovereign state in which only one political party has the right to form the government, usually based on the existing constitution. All other parties ...

, as before the

End of Communism in Hungary Communist rule in the People's Republic of Hungary came to an end in 1989 by a peaceful transition to a democratic system. After the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 was suppressed by Soviet forces, Hungary remained a communist country. As the So ...

Personal life and death

Mécs was married twice. His second wife (since 1985) was Fruzsina Magyar. He had eight children from his two marriages - two daughters, Mónika and Anna and six sons, Imre, László, Máté, Bálint, János and Dávid. Mécs died on 19 January 2023, at the age of 89.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mecs, Imre 1933 births 2023 deaths Alliance of Free Democrats politicians Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (1990–1994) Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (1994–1998) Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (1998–2002) Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (2002–2006) Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (2006–2010) Politicians from Budapest Hungarian prisoners sentenced to death Prisoners sentenced to death by Hungary