National Assembly (Hungary)

The National Assembly (Hungarian: Országgyűlés; "Country Assembly") is the parliament of Hungary. The unicameral body consists of 199 (386 between 1990 and 2014) members elected to 4-year terms. Election of members is done using parallel voting; involving single-member districts and one list election; parties must win at least 5% of the popular vote in order to enter the list of members of the assembly (but area winners enter regardless). The Assembly includes 25 standing committees to debate and report on introduced bills and to supervise the activities of the ministers. The Constitutional Court of Hungary has the right to challenge legislation on the grounds of constitutionality. The assembly has met in the Hungarian Parliament Building in Budapest since 1902.

National Assembly

Országgyűlés
Type
Type
Leadership
László Kövér, Fidesz
since 6 August 2010
Márta Mátrai, Fidesz
since 1 January 2013
Leader of largest
political group
Máté Kocsis, Fidesz
since 2018
Leader of 2nd largest
political group
Péter Jakab, Jobbik
since 26 June 2019
Structure
Seats199
Political groups
Government (133)
  •   Fidesz–KDNP (133)

Supported by (1)

Opposition (65)

Elections
Parallel voting: 106 FPTP seats, 93 PR seats with 5% electoral threshold (D'Hondt method)
Last election
8 April 2018
Next election
2022 or before
Meeting place
Hungarian Parliament Building
Lajos Kossuth Square 1
Budapest, H-1055
Hungary
Website
National Assembly
Autumn session - 2015
Hungary
This article is part of a series on the
politics and government of
Hungary
Constitution
Executive
Parliament
Recent elections
Budapest
Mayor of Budapest
Gergely Karácsony
Mayoral elections
1994
1998
2002
2006
2010
2014
2019
Administrative divisions
Foreign relations

History

The Diet of Hungary[1] (Hungarian: Országgyűlés) was a legislative institution in the medieval kingdom of Hungary from the 1290s,[2] and in its successor states, Royal Hungary and the Habsburg kingdom of Hungary throughout the Early Modern period. The name of the legislative body was originally "Parlamentum" during the Middle Ages, the "Diet" expression gained mostly in the Early Modern period.[3] It convened at regular intervals with interruptions during the period of 1527 to 1918, and again until 1946.

The articles of the 1790 diet set out that the diet should meet at least once every 3 years, but, since the diet was called by the Habsburg monarchy, this promise was not kept on several occasions thereafter. As a result of the Austro-Hungarian Compromise, it was reconstituted in 1867.

The Latin term Natio Hungarica ("Hungarian nation") was used to designate the political elite which had participation in the diet, consisting of the nobility, the Catholic clergy, and a few enfranchised burghers,[4][5] regardless of language or ethnicity.[6] Natio Hungarica was a geographic, institutional and juridico-political category.[7]

The democratic character of the Hungarian parliament was reestablished with the fall of the Iron Curtain and the end of the communist dictatorship in 1989. Today's parliament is still called the Országgyűlés, as in royal times, but is called the 'National Assembly' to distance itself from the historical royal diet.

Latest election
Main article: Hungarian parliamentary election, 2018
Turnout[8]
7:009:0011:0013:0015:0017:0018:30Overall
2.24%13.17%29.93%42.32%53.64%63.21%68.13%70.22%
8 April 2018 Hungarian parliamentary election results
Party (alliance) Party lists FPTP Total
Votes % Seats Votes % Seats Seats ±
Fidesz-KDNP 2,824,206 49.27 42 2,636,203 47.89 91 133
Jobbik – Movement for a Better Hungary 1,092,669 19.06 25 1,276,842 23.20 1 26 3
Hungarian Socialist Party – Dialogue for Hungary 682,602 11.91 12 622,458 11.22 8 20 10
Politics Can Be Different 404,425 7.06 7 312,731 5.64 1 8 3
Democratic Coalition 308,068 5.37 6 348,178 6.28 3 9 5
Momentum Movement 175,225 3.06 0 75,035 1.35 0 0 New
Hungarian Two-tailed Dog Party 99,410 1.73 0 39,763 0.72 0 0 New
Together 37,561 0.66 0 58,591 1.06 1 1 2
National Self-Government of Germans in Hungary 26,477 0.46 1 1 1
Hungarian Workers' Party 15,640 0.27 0 13,613 0.25 0 0
Family Party 10,640 0.19 0 9,839 0.18 0 0
Hungarian Justice and Life Party 8,713 0.15 0 6,897 0.12 0 0
Party for a Fit and Healthy Hungary 7,309 0.13 0 5,525 0.10 0 0
National Self-Government of Gypsies 5,703 0.10 0 0
Other parties (less than 0.1%) 33,173 0.58 0 43,256 0.78 0 0 1
Independents 55,612 1.00 1 1 1
Total 5,731,821 100.00 93 5,504,543 100.00 106 199
Valid votes 5,731,821 98.97
Blank/invalid votes 59,611 1.03
Registered voters / Turnout 8,312,173 69.73
Source: National Election Office

2010–2014 Parliament

At the sixth parliamentary elections, four parties or party alliances passed the minimum threshold: the Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Union in alliance with the Christian Democratic People's Party (KDNP) (263 seats in common, 227 for Fidesz and 36 for KDNP). Fidesz-KDNP candidates won enough seats to achieve a two-thirds majority required to modify major laws and the country's constitution. The Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP) won 59 seats, while its former coalition party Alliance of Free Democrats (SZDSZ) failed to win any seats and became extra-parliamentary after 20 years. There were two newcomers to the Országgyűlés: Jobbik (47 seats) and Politics Can Be Different (LMP) (16 seats). 1 independent (former Fidesz member Oszkár Molnár) got into the Parliament, winning a constituency (Edelény) in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County.

The other prestigious party, the Hungarian Democratic Forum also lost all its seats.

The heads of the factions are:

The new parliamentary session hold the inaugural session on 14 May 2010. The President of Fidesz and Prime Minister is Viktor Orbán. Pál Schmitt served as Speaker of the National Assembly until August 2010 when he became President of Hungary. He was replaced by László Kövér.

After the 2010 local elections, held on 3 October, Katalin Szili founded the Social Union and became its first chairperson. As a result, she quit the Hungarian Socialist Party and their parliamentarian group. Continuing the parliamentarian work as formally independent MP.[9]

2006–2010 Parliament

At parliamentary elections in 2006, four parties or party alliances passed the minimum threshold: the Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP) (190 seats), the coalition party Alliance of Free Democrats (SZDSZ) (20 seats), the Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Union in alliance with the Christian Democratic People's Party (KDNP) (164 seats in common, 141 for Fidesz and 23 for KDNP), and the Hungarian Democratic Forum (MDF) (11 seats) and 1 independent (István Gyenesei) got into the Parliament, winning a constituency in Somogy county.

The heads of the factions were:

The head of the allied faction Fidesz-KDNP was Viktor Orbán. The head of the minority government (since 2008, when SZDSZ left the coalition) was Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány then Gordon Bajnai. The speaker of the Assembly was Katalin Szili (2006-2009) then Béla Katona (2009-2010) of the MSZP.

Historical composition of the National Assembly since 1990
See also: Historical composition of the National Assembly of Hungary
  MSZP
  SZDSZ
  LMP
  MLP
  Egy.
  DK
  Par.
  Fidesz
  KDNP
  MDF
  FKGP
  MIÉP
  Jobbik
  Germans
  Others
  Independent
1990–1994
33 93 21 21 164 44 1 9
1994–1998
209 69 20 22 38 26 1 1
1998–2002
134 24 148 17 48 14 1
2002–2006
178 20 164 24
2006–2010
190 20 1 141 23 11
2010–2014
59 16 227 36 1 47
2014–2018
29 4 3 1 1 5 117 16 23
2018–2022
15 5 9 1 8 117 16 1 26

The numbers come from the legislature's inaugural session. Later changes may occur:

  • Vacancies from party list MPs do not change the make-up of the Assembly, as they are replaced by another member of the party list. But a vacancy in a district seat triggers a by-election, which, historically, is often won by another party. See List of Hungarian by-elections.
  • New factions may appear
    • in 1993, the nationalist-radicalist members of MDF quit the party and founded the MIÉP, which took part in the next three elections. It crossed the threshold only in 1998.
    • in 2011, the DK faction led by former socialist prime minister Ferenc Gyurcsány, split from the MSZP and became a party of its own.
    • in 2011 also, 8 MPs from LMP left the party to set up Dialogue for Hungary

Members (since 1990)

References
  1. András Gergely, Gábor Máthé: The Hungarian state: thousand years in Europe (published in 2000)
  2. Elemér Hantos: The Magna Carta Of The English And Of The Hungarian Constitution (1904)
  3. Cecil Marcus Knatchbull-Hugessen Brabourne (4th Baron): The political evolution of the Hungarian nation: (Volume I. in 1908)
  4. John M. Merriman, J. M. Winter, Europe 1789 to 1914: encyclopedia of the age of industry and empire, Charles Scribner's Sons, 2006, p. 140, ISBN 978-0-684-31359-7
  5. Tadayuki Hayashi, Hiroshi Fukuda, Regions in Central and Eastern Europe: past and present, Slavic Research Center, Hokkaido University, 2007, p. 158, ISBN 978-4-938637-43-9
  6. Katerina Zacharia, Hellenisms: culture, identity, and ethnicity from antiquity to modernity, Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2008, p. 237 ISBN 978-0-7546-6525-0
  7. "Transylvania - The Roots of Ethnic Conflict". Hungarianhistory.com. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  8. "Tájékoztató adatok a választáson megjelentek számáról és arányáról" (in Hungarian). National Election Office. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  9. Szili Katalin kilépett az MSZP-frakcióból
  1. 9 defected from Jobbik, 3 from Greens and 1 from DK.

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