Hungarian parliamentary election, 1990

Hungarian parliamentary election, 1990

25 March and 8 April 1990
All 386 seats in the National Assembly 194 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	65.11% and 45.54%
First party Second party Third party   Leader József Antall János Kis Vince Vörös Party MDF SZDSZ FKGP Leader since 21 October 1989 23 February 1990 23 March 1989 Last election Did not exist Did not exist Did not exist Seats won 165 / 386 94 / 386 44 / 386 Popular vote 1,213,820 1,050,440 576,256 Percentage 24.72% 21.40% 11.74%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Rezső Nyers Viktor Orbán Sándor Keresztes Party MSZP Fidesz KDNP Leader since 9 October 1989 List leader 30 September 1989 Last election 288 seats, 99.1% Did not exist Did not exist Seats won 33 / 386 22 / 386 21 / 386 Seat change 255 Popular vote 534,897 439,448 317,183 Percentage 10.89% 8.95% 6.46%
300px Results of SMCs
Prime Minister before election Miklós Németh MSZP Elected Prime Minister József Antall MDF

Parliamentary elections were held in Hungary on 25 March 1990, with a second round of voting taking place in all but five single member constituencies on 8 April. They were the first completely free and competitive elections to be held in the country since 1945, and only the second free elections in the country's history. The conservative, nationalist Hungarian Democratic Forum (MDF) beat the liberal and more internationalist Alliance of Free Democrats, which had spearheaded opposition to Communist rule in 1989, to become the largest party in parliament. The Hungarian Socialist Party, the former Communist party, suffered a crushing defeat, winning only 33 seats for fourth place.

MDF leader József Antall became prime minister in coalition with the Christian Democratic People's Party and Independent Smallholders' Party.

Background

Main articles: End of communism in Hungary (1989) and Hungarian Round Table Talks

Hungary's transition to a Western-style democracy was one of the smoothest among the former Soviet bloc. By late 1988, activists within the party and bureaucracy and Budapest-based intellectuals were increasing pressure for change. Some of these became reformist social democrats, while others began movements which were to develop into parties. Young liberals formed the Federation of Young Democrats (Fidesz); a core from the so-called Democratic Opposition formed the Association of Free Democrats (SZDSZ), and the national opposition established the Hungarian Democratic Forum (MDF).

Among the organized opposition, Round Table Talks began in March 1989, a series of formalized, orderly and highly legalistic discussions, inspired by the Polish model. At that point, longtime leader János Kádár had been removed from power for almost a year, and the Communists' Central Committee that month admitted the necessity of a multiparty system, with various groups like Fidesz and the Alliance of Free Democrats (SzDSz) having emerged. Mass demonstrations on March 15, the National Day, persuaded the regime to begin negotiations with the emergent non-Communist political forces. A week later, these new movements, at the initiative of the Independent Lawyers’ Forum, formed the Opposition Round Table (Ellenzéki Kerekasztal, EKA), designed to prevent the Communists from trying to maintain power by dividing the opposition, and to establish some degree of unity in the face of the regime’s own reform agenda. The table was composed of a small number of elite organizations, whose grassroots links were poorly developed and whose very existence stemmed in part from the collaboration of key Communist reformers. Specifically, it involved the SzDSz, Fidesz, the Hungarian Democratic Forum (MDF), the Independent Smallholders’ Party (FKgP), the Hungarian People’s Party (MNP), the Endre Bajcsy-Zsilinszky Society, and the Democratic Trade Union of Scientific Workers. At a later stage the Democratic Confederation of Free Trade Unions and the Christian Democratic People's Party (KNDP) were invited.

In October 1989, the ruling communist Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party (MSZMP) convened its last congress and re-established itself as the Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP). In a historic session from 16 October to 20 October, the parliament adopted legislation providing for multi-party parliamentary elections and a direct presidential election. The legislation transformed Hungary from a People's Republic into the Republic of Hungary, guaranteed human and civil rights, and created an institutional structure that ensured separation of powers among the judicial, legislative, and executive branches of government.

An agreement was reached involving six draft laws that covered an overhaul of the Constitution, establishment of a Constitutional Court, the functioning and management of political parties, multiparty elections for National Assembly deputies, the penal code and the law on penal procedures (the last two changes represented an additional separation of the Party from the state apparatus). The electoral system was a compromise: about half of the deputies would be elected proportionally and half by the majoritarian system. A weak presidency was also agreed upon, but no consensus was attained on who should elect the president (parliament or the people) and when this election should occur (before or after parliamentary elections). Initially, the opposition was united in wanting the president elected by parliament after new elections to ensure parliamentary supremacy and minimise the MSzMP’s power. Then, faced with Communist concessions, the relatively weak opposition split, as at least three moderate groups (including KNDP and MDF) signed the Round Table agreement and implicitly accepted Pozsgay as president while the radicals (notably Fidesz and the SzDSz) refused to do so. After a burst of negotiations, fully free elections were scheduled for March 1990, in contrast to the semi-free elections held in Poland in June 1989.

Electoral system

Of the 386 seats in the National Assembly, 176 were elected from single member constituencies, 120 from multi-member constituencies and a further 90 from "compensatory" national seats.

Results

Party	SMCs			MMCs			National seats	Total seats
	Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
Hungarian Democratic Forum	1,186,791	23.9	114	1,213,820	24.7	40	10	164
Alliance of Free Democrats	1,082,965	21.8	35	1,050,440	21.4	34	23	92
Independent Smallholders' Party	529,299	10.7	11	576,256	11.7	16	17	44
Hungarian Socialist Party	504,995	10.2	1	534,897	10.9	14	18	33
Christian Democratic People's Party	287,614	5.8	3	317,183	6.5	8	10	21
Fidesz	235,611	4.8	1	439,448	9.0	8	12	21
Patriotic Electoral Coalition	157,798	3.2	0	91,910	1.9	0	0	0
Agrarian Alliance	139,240	2.8	1	154,003	3.1	0	0	1
Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party	131,444	2.7	0	180,899	3.7	0	0	0
Hungarian Social Democratic Party	104,010	2.1	0	174,409	3.6	0	0	0
Entrepreneurs' Party	82,518	1.7	0	92,684	1.9	0	0	0
Hungarian People's Party	38,647	0.8	0	37,047	0.8	0	0	0
SZDSZ–Fidesz	23,702	0.5	2	–	–	–	0	2
Green Party of Hungary	19,434	0.4	0	17,951	0.4	0	0	0
ASZ–SZFV	12,958	0.3	1	–	–	–	0	1
ASZ–HVK	12,926	0.3	0	–	–	–	0	0
National Smallholders' and Civic Party	12,366	0.3	0	9,944	0.2	0	0	0
Independent Social Democratic Party	7,564	0.2	0	–	–	–	0	0
KDNP–Fidesz–SZDSZ	6,473	0.1	1	–	–	–	0	1
Somogy County Christian Coalition	5,029	0.1	0	5,966	0.1	0	0	0
Hungarian Cooperative and Agrarian Party	5,882	0.1	0	4,945	0.1	0	0	0
Tedisz–Fédisz	3,759	0.1	0	–	–	–	0	0
Independent Hungarian Democratic Party	4,640	0.1	0	2,954	0.1	0	0	0
Freedom Party	4,342	0.1	0	2,814	0.1	0	0	0
MSZP–ASZ	2,255	0.1	0	–	–	–	0	0
Hungarian Independence Party	2,129	0.0	0	2,143	0.0	0	0	0
Alliance for the Village and Countryside	3,092	0.1	0	–	–	–	0	0
Holy Crown Society	1,906	0.0	0	–	–	–	0	0
Party of Generations, Party of Pensioners and Families	1,762	0.0	0	–	–	–	0	0
MSZP–HVK	1,589	0.0	0	–	–	–	0	0
Alliance for the Protection of Nature and Society	1,284	0.0	0	–	–	–	0	0
Hungarian Workers' Democratic Center Party	973	0.0	0	–	–	–	0	0
Party for Rural Hungary	690	0.0	0	–	–	–	0	0
Social Democratic Party of Hungarian Gypsies	613	0.0	0	–	–	–	0	0
People of the Orient Party – Christian Democrats	346	0.0	0	–	–	–	0	0
Independents	342,674	6.9	6	–	–	–	–	6
Invalid/blank votes	96,109	–	–	172,136	–	–	–	–
Total	5,055,429	100	176	5,081,849	100	120	90	386
Registered voters/turnout	7,798,827	65.0	–	7,822,661	65.1	–	–	–
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

External links

• Elections to the Hungarian National Assembly - Results Lookup Election Resources
• Hungary: Parliamentary Chamber: Orszaggyules: Elections held in 1990 Inter-Parliamentary Union