The Hungarian Workers' Party ( hu, Magyar Munkáspárt) is a communist party in Hungary led by Gyula Thürmer. Established after the fall of the communist Hungarian People's Republic, the party has yet to win a seat in the Hungarian parliament. Until May 2009, it was a member of the Party of the European Left. It was formed from, and considers itself the successor to, the former ruling Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party.

History

The party was established as the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party on 17 December 1989 as a successor party of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party (MSZMP) by a small group of old MSZMP members who opposed its transformation into 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). Among them was

Károly Grósz Károly Grósz (1 August 1930 – 7 January 1996) was a Hungary, Hungarian communism, communist politician, who served as the General Secretary of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party from 1988 to 1989. Early career Grósz was born in Misko ...

, the last general secretary of the old MSZMP, who became the new party's acting chairman In the 1990 elections it received around 3% of the national vote, the largest share for a party that failed to win a seat. In 1993 the party adopted the name Workers' Party, and in the same year a group of hard-liners broke away to form another Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party. In the

1994 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1994. Africa * 1994 Botswana general election * 1994 Guinea-Bissau general election * 1994 Malawian general election * 1994 Mozambican general election * 1994 Namibian general election * 1994 South Afr ...

, the party won a similar share of the vote, again emerging as the largest party without a seat. Despite increasing its vote share to around 4% in the 1998 elections, the party again remained seatless. In the

2002 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2002. * 2002 Bahraini parliamentary election * 2002 Comorian presidential election * 2002 East Timorese presidential election * 2002 Fijian municipal election * 2002 Hong Kong Chief Executive election * ...

, the party's vote share fell to around 2%, and for the first time since 1990, not the largest party without parliamentary representation. On 12 November 2005 it became the Hungarian Communist Workers' Party when a split led to the formation of the Workers' Party of Hungary 2006 led by János Fratanolo. In the

2006 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2006. * Elections in 2006 * Electoral calendar 2006 * 2006 Acehnese regional election * 2006 American Samoan legislative election * 2006 Bahraini parliamentary election * 2006 Costa Rican presidenti ...

the party received less than 0.5% of the national vote, whilst in the 2010 elections, its vote share fell to just 0.1%. On 11 May 2013 the party was renamed again, this time becoming the Hungarian Workers' Party due to a law passed the previous year banning the public use of names associated with "authoritarian regimes of the 20th century." In the 2014 parliamentary election, the party received 0.56% of the votes, again the largest party without parliamentary seats. On the question of the 2016 migrant quota referendum, the party called for a "no" vote, expressing opposition to what it perceives as "EU aggression" against Hungary. The Party was on the NO vote side during the

2003 Hungarian European Union membership referendum A referendum on joining the European Union was held in Hungary on 12 April 2003. Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p899 The proposal was approved by 83.8% of voters, with a voter turnout of 45.6%.Nohlen & St� ...

Ideology

The party opposed Hungary joining NATO. In 1996 the party organised a countrywide collection of signatures for a referendum on NATO membership. This HCWP-led referendum drive failed, although another referendum on NATO membership was held in 1997, which resulted in a vote in favour. The party continues to oppose the country's participation in NATO and other military organisations. It campaigns to have all Hungarian forces returned from abroad and to reduce the military budget. The party opposed Hungary's participation in the "democratisation" program that has previously targeted the governments of Serbia and Belarus and strongly opposed NATO campaigns in Yugoslavia against

Slobodan Milošević Slobodan Milošević (, ; 20 August 1941 – 11 March 2006) was a Yugoslav and Serbian politician who was the president of Serbia within Yugoslavia from 1989 to 1997 (originally the Socialist Republic of Serbia, a constituent republic of ...

and the

2003 invasion of Iraq The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one month, including 26 ...

. Other foreign policies are in favour of *a peaceful and just settlement of the Middle East crisis, in favour of the "progressive" Arab countries. *a foreign policy based upon "good relations" with all parts of the world.

Election results

National Assembly

European Parliament

Gallery

File:Logo of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party (1989-1993).svg, Logo from 1989 to 1993 File:Logo of the Workers' Party of Hungary (1993-2005).svg, Logo from 1993 to 2005 File:Magyar Kommunista Munkáspárt old logo.svg, Logo from 2005 to 2013 File:Flag of the Hungarian Communist Workers' Party.svg, Flag from 1993 to 2013

History

Ideology

Election results

National Assembly

European Parliament

Gallery

Notes

References

External links