Lajos Oláh (born 17 June 1969) is a Hungarian politician and jurist. He has been a member of 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 repr ...

of Hungary since 2006. He served as Secretary of State in the Ministry of Environment and Water from 2008 to 2009, then in the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Energy.

Profession

Lajos Oláh was born on 17 June 1969 in

Karcag Karcag () is a large town in Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok county, in the Northern Great Plain region of central Hungary. Geography Karcag covers an area of and has a population of 20,632 people (2011). Transport Karcag has its own railway station, bu ...

. He finished his elementary and secondary studies in

Debrecen Debrecen ( ; ; ; ) is Hungary's cities of Hungary, second-largest city, after Budapest, the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain Regions of Hungary, region and the seat of Hajdú-Bihar County. A city with county rights, it was the large ...

. He earned law degree at the Faculty of Law of the

Eötvös Loránd University Eötvös Loránd University (, ELTE, also known as ''University of Budapest'') is a Hungarian public research university based in Budapest. Founded in 1635, ELTE is one of the largest and most prestigious public higher education institutions in ...

(ELTE) in 1993. He spent a semester during his university years at the

Stellenbosch University Stellenbosch University (SU) (, ) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant university in Sub-Sahara ...

and the

Rand Afrikaans University The Rand Afrikaans University (RAU) (Afrikaans: ''Randse Afrikaanse Universiteit'') was a prominent South African institution of higher education and research that served the greater Johannesburg area and surroundings from 1967 to 2004. It ha ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. Oláh speaks English and

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

at the negotiation level. He is married, father of two children. He is co-president of the Great Wall Hungarian–Chinese Friendship Association since 2012. He also established its annual award, the Award for Sino–Hungarian Friendship. Over the years, he has developed significant relationships with members of

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

's political and economic elite. He is a member of the Hungarian UN Society, the Hungarian Geographical Society and the International Ragweed Society (IRS).

Political career

Oláh began his political career as a member of the

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

(MSZP). He functioned as chairman of the party's branch in Hajdú-Bihar County from 2003 to 2010. Oláh was elected a Member of Parliament via the MSZP regional list of Hajdú-Bihar County in the 2006 parliamentary election. He was a member of the Committee on the Environment from 2006 to 2008. After

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Ferenc Gyurcsány Ferenc Gyurcsány (; born 4 June 1961) is a Hungarian entrepreneur and retired politician who served as Prime Minister of Hungary from 2004 to 2009. Prior to that, he held the position of Government of Hungary, Minister of Youth Affairs and Sp ...

formed his minority government, he served as a secretary of state in the Ministry of Environment and Water from 1 May 2008 to 15 April 2009. In this capacity, he was also a member of the Research and Technological Innovation Council. Oláh held the position of secretary of state in the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Energy during the

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

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 Government of Hungary, Minister of Local Government and Regiona ...

, from 21 April 2009 to 29 May 2010. During the 2010 parliamentary election, Oláh was re-elected MP via MSZP regional list of Hajdú-Bihar County, but the party itself suffered a heavy defeat against

Fidesz Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Alliance (; ) is a national-conservative political party in Hungary led by Viktor Orbán. It has increasingly identified as illiberal. Originally formed in 1988 under the name of Alliance of Young Democrats () as ...

. Oláh was vice-chairman of the Committee on Sustainable Development between 2010 and 2011. Oláh belonged to Gyurcsány's inner circle, which heavily criticized the leadership of the MSZP. As a result, he joined Democratic Coalition Platform founded by the former prime minister. When the platform split from the Socialists on 22 October 2011 he joined to newly formed party and left the MSZP and its

parliamentary group A parliamentary group, parliamentary caucus or political group is a group consisting of members of different political party, political parties or independent politicians with similar ideologies. Some parliamentary systems allow smaller politic ...

. Formally, Oláh was an independent MP between 2011 and 2018. He lost the position of vice-chairman, but retained his membership in the Committee on Sustainable Development until 2014. Oláh ran as a joint candidate of the

Unity Unity is the state of being as one (either literally or figuratively). It may also refer to: Buildings * Unity Building, Oregon, Illinois, US; a historic building * Unity Building (Chicago), Illinois, US; a skyscraper * Unity Buildings, Liverpoo ...

electoral alliance in

Erzsébetváros ---- Erzsébetváros (; , both names meaning ''Elizabethtown'') is the 7th district of Budapest, situated on the Pest side of the Danube. The inner half of the district was the historic Jewish quarter of Pest. The Dohány Street Synagogue, t ...

(5th constituency,

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

) during the 2014 parliamentary election. He narrowly defeated Fidesz candidate

Monika Rónaszéki-Keresztes Monika Mária Rónaszéki-Keresztes (née ''Keresztes''; born 17 May 1962) is a Hungarian educator and politician, member of the National Assembly (MP) for Erzsébetváros (Budapest Constituency 9) between 2010 and 2014. She was also appointed ...

with the margin of 0.6 percent. He was a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs from 2014 to 2018. Oláh was re-elected MP for Erzsébetváros in the 2018 parliamentary election, defeating Fidesz candidate István Bajkai. He has been vice-chairman of the Committee on European Affairs and a member of the

Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is the parliamentary arm of the Council of Europe, a 46-nation international organisation dedicated to upholding human rights, democracy and the rule of law. The Assembly is made up of ...

since 2018. Prior to the 2019 local elections, the Democratic Coalition signed a written agreement with the Hungarian Socialist Party that the DK candidate, Péter Niedermüller, will run for mayor in the 7th district, and in return the MSZP can stand as a candidate for the parliamentary elections. In 2021, DK broke this agreement without justification and insisted that Oláh should again be the common candidate. The MSZP accepted the amendment. Lajos Oláh won the primary election in his constituency. In the parliamentary election held on 3 April 2022, he again became the single member of the constituency, winning 20,561 votes and an absolute majority of 51.39%.Budapest VII. kerület. Budapest 5. számú egyéni választókerület
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Olah, Lajos 1969 births Living people Hungarian jurists Eötvös Loránd University alumni Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (2006–2010) Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (2010–2014) Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (2014–2018) Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (2018–2022) Members of the National Assembly of Hungary (2022–2026) People from Karcag Hungarian Socialist Party politicians Democratic Coalition (Hungary) politicians Rand Afrikaans University alumni