The Hungarian Workers' Party (, ) is a communist party in

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, 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 and ...

led by Gyula Thürmer. Established after the fall of the communist

Hungarian People's Republic The Hungarian People's Republic (HPR) was a landlocked country in Central Europe from its formation on 20 August 1949 until the establishment of the current Hungary, Republic of Hungary on 23 October 1989. It was a professed Communist_state# ...

, 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 The Party of the European Left (PEL), or European Left (EL), is a European political party that operates as an association of democratic socialist and communist political parties in the European Union and other European countries. It was formed ...

. It was formed from, and considers itself the successor to, the former ruling Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party. Despite having run in every parliamentary election since

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

, the party has never won seats.

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 (MSZP). Among them was

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

, 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 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 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.

Ideology

The party opposed Hungary joining

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

. 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 NATO campaigns in Yugoslavia against

Slobodan Milošević Slobodan Milošević ( sr-Cyrl, Слободан Милошевић, ; 20 August 1941 – 11 March 2006) was a Yugoslav and Serbian politician who was the President of Serbia between 1989 and 1997 and President of the Federal Republic of Yugos ...

and the 2003 invasion of Iraq. 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. 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 The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two 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 ...

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 The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two 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 ...

Gallery

Notes

References

External links