LMP – Hungary's Green Party ( hu, LMP – Magyarország Zöld Pártja, Greens, between 2009 and 2020: ''Politics Can Be Different,'' hu, Lehet Más a Politika, LMP) is a
green-liberal political party in Hungary. Founded in 2009, it was one of four parties to win seats in 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 ...
in the
2010 parliamentary election. The party is a member of the
European Green Party
The European Green Party (EGP), also referred to as European Greens, is the European political party that represents national parties from across Europe who share Green values. The European Greens works closely with the Greens–European Fre ...
.
History
Foundation and electoral success
The party was preceded by a non-governmental organization social initiative founded in 2008, with the purpose of reforming
Hungarian politics. LMP shares common ideologies with most
green parties
A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence.
Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...
. Key issues are environmental protection,
sustainable development
Sustainable development is an organizing principle for meeting human development goals while also sustaining the ability of natural systems to provide the natural resources and ecosystem services on which the economy and society depend. The des ...
and the fight against corruption in the current political elite. LMP highlights what they see as the pointlessness of the current partisan division between the
left
Left may refer to:
Music
* ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006
* ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016
* "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996
Direction
* Left (direction), the relative direction opposite of right
* L ...
and right-wing forces, and their principle is
deliberative democracy
Deliberative democracy or discursive democracy is a form of democracy in which deliberation is central to decision-making. It adopts elements of both consensus decision-making and majority rule. Deliberative democracy differs from traditional ...
, which they believe decreases the distance between the people and the political elite.
The public faces of the organization were
András Schiffer
András Schiffer (born 19 June 1971 in Budapest) is a Hungarian lawyer and former politician, who served as co-president of the Politics Can Be Different and leader of its parliamentary group. Schiffer announced his retirement from politics on 3 ...
, a former member of the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (HCLU) and
Védegylet, and
Bernadett Szél
Dr. Bernadett Szél (born 9 March 1977) is a Hungarian economist and politician, and was a National Assembly of Hungary, member of the National Assembly (MP) between 2012 and 2022. She was co-President of the Politics Can Be Different (''Lehet M ...
, an economist and NGO worker at the party's formation. The leading figures also included
Benedek Jávor
Benedek Jávor (born 2 July 1972) is a Hungarian politician and a former Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 2014 to 2019. He is a member of Dialogue for Hungary, part of the European Green Party.
Biography
He finished his secondary ...
, university professor in environmental law and a founder of Védegylet,
Gábor Scheiring, an economist, and
Tímea Szabó
Tímea Szabó (born 18 January 1976) is a Hungarian humanitarian worker, journalist and politician. She has been a member of the National Assembly (MP) since 2010 from the Politics Can Be Different (LMP) National List, and since the 2014 electi ...
, a humanitarian worker, who was to head the list presented for the
2009 European Parliament elections. In 2009, LMP received the official endorsement of the European Green Party.
At the
2009 European Parliament elections the party garnered 75,522 votes, (or 2.61% of the total votes), which was less than the 5% needed to gain a seat for the 2009–2014 cycle, though beating the 2.16% received by
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), one of the parties already in the national parliament.
In the
2010 parliamentary elections, the party achieved 7.48% in the first electoral round, thereby clearing the 5 percent electoral threshold, gaining 16 seats in the parliament, though it did not obtain any direct-representational seats. In the local elections of 3 October 2010, LMP gained 54 seats in local city councils, with at least one representative in most of the district councils of the capital, three seats in the General Assembly of Budapest, as well as in a few other cities around the country.
Gábor Ivády was the only party member to be elected mayor of a town; however he left LMP on 21 October 2010.
Since its establishment and 2010 national election, LMP was kept under pressure by 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) to achieve some kind of electoral compromise and cooperation against
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 ...
's controversial government. For instance, during the by-election in the 2nd District of Budapest in 2011, MSZP urged the LMP's candidate
Gergely Karácsony
Gergely Szilveszter Karácsony (; born 11 June 1975) is a Hungarian politician, Political science, political scientist and current Mayor of Budapest. He previously served as National Assembly (Hungary), member of the National Assembly (MP) from ...
to withdraw in
Katalin Lévai
Katalin Lévai (born May 22, 1954 in Budapest) is a Hungary, Hungarian politician and Member of the European Parliament for the Hungarian Socialist Party, part of the Party of European Socialists.
Lévai is a maverick and social-liberal politicia ...
's favor, but the Green party did not do this. The leadership of the LMP positioned the party to the
centre
Center or centre may refer to:
Mathematics
* Center (geometry), the middle of an object
* Center (algebra), used in various contexts
** Center (group theory)
** Center (ring theory)
* Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentri ...
, and, as a newcomer, rejected both Fidesz and MSZP's politics. András Schiffer also criticized the previous Socialist cabinets, blaming
Ferenc Gyurcsány
Ferenc Gyurcsány (; born 4 June 1961) is a Hungarian entrepreneur and politician who served as Prime Minister of Hungary from 2004 to 2009. Prior to that, he held the position of Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports between 2003 and 2004.
He ...
's disastrous governance for having Fidesz won a two-thirds majority in 2010. However prominent politicians in LMP were divided on the issue of cooperation. In July 2011, Karácsony proposed an election coalition between
Jobbik
The Movement for a Better Hungary ( hu, Jobbik Magyarországért Mozgalom), commonly known as Jobbik (), is a conservative political party in Hungary.
Originating with radical and nationalist roots, at its beginnings, the party described itself ...
, LMP and MSZP, to change certain laws enacted by Fidesz. He cited
Éva Tétényi's case, as a precedent of how such a proposal could work. Politics Can Be Different became a full member of the
European Green Party
The European Green Party (EGP), also referred to as European Greens, is the European political party that represents national parties from across Europe who share Green values. The European Greens works closely with the Greens–European Fre ...
(EGP) in November 2011.
Party split
During the party's congress in November 2012, LMP decided not to join
Together 2014
Together ( hu, Együtt), officially Together – Party for a New Era ( hu, Együtt – A Korszakváltók Pártja), formerly also known as Together 2014 ( hu, Együtt 2014), was a social-liberal political party in Hungary formed on 26 October 2012 f ...
, the planned electoral alliance of opposition parties and movements led by
Gordon Bajnai
György Gordon Bajnai (; born 5 March 1968) is a Hungarian entrepreneur and economist, who served as the Prime Minister of Hungary from 2009 to 2010. Prior to that, he functioned as Minister of Local Government and Regional Development from 2007 ...
. As a result,
Benedek Jávor
Benedek Jávor (born 2 July 1972) is a Hungarian politician and a former Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 2014 to 2019. He is a member of Dialogue for Hungary, part of the European Green Party.
Biography
He finished his secondary ...
, a proponent of the agreement, resigned from his position of parliamentary group leader. Jávor and his supporters (including Tímea Szabó and
Gergely Karácsony
Gergely Szilveszter Karácsony (; born 11 June 1975) is a Hungarian politician, Political science, political scientist and current Mayor of Budapest. He previously served as National Assembly (Hungary), member of the National Assembly (MP) from ...
) founded a platform within the party, called "Dialogue for Hungary" on 26 November 2012. The platform argued in favour of conclusion of an electoral agreement with Bajnai's movement to replace "Orbán's regime". Later that day Schiffer, who did not support the cooperation with Bajnai, was elected leader of the LMP parliamentary group for second time.
In January 2013, the LMP's congress rejected again the electoral cooperation with other opposition parties, including Together 2014. As a result, members of the party's "Dialogue for Hungary" platform left LMP to form a new political organization. Benedek Jávor announced the eight leaving MPs will not resign from their parliamentary seats. Seven parliamentarians remained in the party, Jávor said negotiations are required for the continued operation of the parliamentary group, according to the house rules, which requires 12 seats. Schiffer did not call the secession as a party split, because, he argued, less than 10% of the LMP's membership decided to leave the party and joined Jávor's new initiative. The leaving MPs established
Dialogue for Hungary
Dialogue for Hungary ( hu, Párbeszéd Magyarországért, Párbeszéd or PM), also known in its shortened form Dialogue since September 2016, is a green political party in Hungary that was formed in February 2013 by eight MPs who left the Politic ...
as an officially registered party in March 2013. After the failed negotiations, the eight MPs also left the parliamentary group which then broken up according to the house rules of the National Assembly.
Recovery
The
4K! – Fourth Republic! party offered electoral alliance to the LMP. Party leader András Istvánffy called the developments that took place in opposition as "''a cleansing process, which will separate those who seek to restore pre-2010 conditions and those who want real regime change''." However LMP refused the 4K! party's cooperation offer in September 2013.
Schiffer and
Bernadett Szél
Dr. Bernadett Szél (born 9 March 1977) is a Hungarian economist and politician, and was a National Assembly of Hungary, member of the National Assembly (MP) between 2012 and 2022. She was co-President of the Politics Can Be Different (''Lehet M ...
were elected co-presidents of the LMP during the party's congress on 24 March 2013. The seven MPs of the party were able to re-establish the LMP's caucus on 1 September 2013, after the decision of the Committee on Immunity, Incompatibility and Mandate. The old-new group became the first caucus, where the majority were women, for the first time in Hungary.
Politics Can Be Different received five seats, as it barely jumped over the 5% threshold in the
2014 parliamentary election. The party reached the same result in the
2014 European Parliament election
The 2014 European Parliament election was held in the European Union, from 22 to 25 May 2014.
It was the 8th parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979, and the first in which the European political parties fielded candid ...
, when it received 5.04% of the votes and sent one representative to the
European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...
.
MEP Tamás Meszerics
Tamás Meszerics (; born 4 December 1964) is a Hungarian politician and Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Hungary. He was elected as a member of the Politics Can Be Different, part of the European Green Party in 2014. He joined The G ...
joined
The Greens–European Free Alliance
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
(Greens/EFA). In August 2014, LMP and 4K! agreed to a cooperation in some electoral districts in Budapest during the
2014 local elections. The candidate for Budapest mayor, Antal Csárdi, took just fourth place after
István Tarlós
István Tarlós (; 26 May 1948) is a Hungarian politician who served as the Mayor of Budapest from 2010 to 2019. Previously he served as the Mayor of the Third District (Óbuda-Békásmegyer) of the city between 1990 and 2006 (as an independent ...
,
Lajos Bokros
Lajos András Bokros (born 26 June 1954) is a Hungarian economist, who served as Minister of Finance from 1995 to 1996. He was a Member of the European Parliament for Hungary in the 2009–2014 session. He was the leader of the Movement for a M ...
and
Gábor Staudt. The party collected fewer votes with 50,000 than results of four years ago in the whole country. Virtually LMP remained a metropolitan organization, with only an insignificant representation in the countryside. In a different point of view, LMP largely regained the positions, which had been lost during the party split in early 2013, for instance, then all three representatives in the General Assembly of Budapest joined Dialogue for Hungary.
On 18 July 2015, Schiffer and Szél were re-elected co-presidents of the party. Ákos Hadházy, a former
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 ...
member, who revealed the government's tobacco shop corruption scandal, was also elected to the LMP's leadership. The party's most well-known politician, Schiffer announced his retirement from politics on 31 May 2016. After the resignation of
Erzsébet Schmuck, Szél was elected leader of the LMP parliamentary group on 16 February 2017. In September 2017, Bernadett Szél was nominated the party's candidate to the position of prime minister for the
upcoming parliamentary election. In the same month, former
socialist
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...
MP
Márta Demeter joined the LMP's parliamentary group, but she is not member of the party. During that time, Bernadett Szél was nominated the party's candidate to the position of prime minister for the
upcoming parliamentary election. In December 2017, Bernadett Szél and
György Gémesi agreed, that the Politics Can Be Different and the
New Start ran together in the 2018 Hungarian parliamentary election.
Another decline and cooperation with other opposition parties
In these parliamentary election, LMP won 7.06 per cent of the votes and returned 8 members in the parliament (including one single-member constituency in Budapest). After these elections, internal conflicts led to resignation of Bernadett Szél as party's co-chair. Party's support also declined. For example, the party in
2019 European Parliament election achieved almost identical results as in 2009.
In 2020, the changed its name to the LMP – Hungary's Green Party.
Co-leaders
Election results
National Assembly
European Parliament
1 In an electoral alliance with the Humanist Party
The Humanist International (also known as the International Humanist Party) is a consortium of political parties adhering to universal humanism (also known as Siloism, after the nickname of the movement's founder), founded in 1989 by over 40 na ...
(HP).
See also
*
List of political parties in Hungary
This article lists political parties in Hungary. Hungary has a multi-party system since it gained independence following the Revolutions of 1989. Currently, the political landscape of Hungary is dominated by the Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Allian ...
*
Ökofeszt The Ökofeszt or Ecofest was festival which was held to celebrate eco friendly ideas in Hungary. The first Ökofeszt was organized by Védegylet and Zöld Fiatalok and held on 15 and 16 April 2005 in Budapest.
The slogan of the festival was ''Poli ...
Footnotes
External links
Official website in EnglishOfficial website's news feed in English
{{DEFAULTSORT:LMP - Hungary's Green Party
2009 establishments in Hungary
Centrist parties in Hungary
European Green Party
Global Greens member parties
Ecosocialist parties
Green political parties in Hungary
Parties represented in the European Parliament
Political parties established in 2009
Political parties in Hungary
Syncretic political movements