LMP – Hungary's Green Party
LMP – Hungary's Green Party LMP – Magyarország Zöld Pártja | ||
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LMP – Hungary's Green Party (
History
Foundation and electoral success
The party was preceded by a non-governmental organization social initiative founded in 2008, with the purpose of reforming
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The public faces of the organization were András Schiffer, a former member of the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (HCLU) and Védegylet, and Bernadett Szél, an economist and NGO worker at the party's formation. The leading figures also included Benedek Jávor, university professor in environmental law and a founder of Védegylet, Gábor Scheiring, an economist, and Tímea Szabó, a humanitarian worker, who was to head the list presented for the 2009 European Parliament elections. In 2009, LMP received the official endorsement of the European Green Party.[10]
At the 2009 European Parliament elections the party garnered 75,522 votes, (or 2.61% of the total votes), which was less than the 5% needed to gain a seat for the 2009–2014 cycle, though beating the 2.16% received by Alliance of Free Democrats (SZDSZ), one of the parties already in the national parliament.[11]
In the 2010 parliamentary elections, the party achieved 7.48% in the first electoral round, thereby clearing the 5 percent electoral threshold, gaining 16 seats in the parliament, though it did not obtain any direct-representational seats.[12] In the local elections of 3 October 2010, LMP gained 54 seats in local city councils, with at least one representative in most of the district councils of the capital, three seats in the General Assembly of Budapest, as well as in a few other cities around the country. Gábor Ivády was the only party member to be elected mayor of a town; however he left LMP on 21 October 2010.[13]
Since its establishment and 2010 national election, LMP was kept under pressure by the Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP) to achieve some kind of electoral compromise and cooperation against Viktor Orbán's controversial government. For instance, during the by-election in the 2nd District of Budapest in 2011, MSZP urged the LMP's candidate Gergely Karácsony to withdraw in Katalin Lévai's favor, but the Green party did not do this.[14] The leadership of the LMP positioned the party to the centre, and, as a newcomer, rejected both Fidesz and MSZP's politics. András Schiffer also criticized the previous Socialist cabinets, blaming Ferenc Gyurcsány's disastrous governance for having Fidesz won a two-thirds majority in 2010.[15] However prominent politicians in LMP were divided on the issue of cooperation. In July 2011, Karácsony proposed an election coalition between Jobbik, LMP and MSZP, to change certain laws enacted by Fidesz. He cited Éva Tétényi's case, as a precedent of how such a proposal could work.[16] Politics Can Be Different became a full member of the European Green Party (EGP) in November 2011.[17]
Party split
During the party's congress in November 2012, LMP decided not to join
In January 2013, the LMP's congress rejected again the electoral cooperation with other opposition parties, including Together 2014.
Recovery
The 4K! – Fourth Republic! party offered electoral alliance to the LMP. Party leader András Istvánffy called the developments that took place in opposition as "a cleansing process, which will separate those who seek to restore pre-2010 conditions and those who want real regime change."[25] However LMP refused the 4K! party's cooperation offer in September 2013.[26]
Schiffer and Bernadett Szél were elected co-presidents of the LMP during the party's congress on 24 March 2013.[27] The seven MPs of the party were able to re-establish the LMP's caucus on 1 September 2013, after the decision of the Committee on Immunity, Incompatibility and Mandate. The old-new group became the first caucus, where the majority were women, for the first time in Hungary.[28]
Politics Can Be Different received five seats, as it barely jumped over the 5% threshold in the
On 18 July 2015, Schiffer and Szél were re-elected co-presidents of the party. Ákos Hadházy, a former
Another decline and cooperation with other opposition parties
In these parliamentary election, LMP won 7.06 per cent of the votes and returned 8 members in the parliament (including one single-member constituency in Budapest). After these elections, internal conflicts led to resignation of Bernadett Szél as party's co-chair. Party's support also declined. For example, the party in 2019 European Parliament election achieved almost identical results as in 2009.
In 2020, the changed its name to the LMP – Hungary's Green Party.
During the 2022 parliamentary election, the LMP was a member of the United for Hungary, a broad coalition of parties seeking to oust the Orbán government, winning 7.0% of the vote and 8 seats.
In March 2024, the European Green Party formally suspended LMP’s membership due to its support of a Fidesz-linked candidate Dávid Vitézy for mayor of Budapest.[41]
Ideology and platform
The party's political position has been widely described as
Co-leaders
Term | Male co-chair | Female co-chair |
---|---|---|
2013–2016 | András Schiffer | Bernadett Szél |
2016–2018 | Ákos Hadházy | |
2018–2019 | László Lóránt Keresztes | Márta Demeter |
2019–2020 | János Kendernay | Erzsébet Schmuck |
2020–2022 | Máté Kanász-Nagy | |
2022– | Péter Ungár |
Election results
National Assembly
Election | Leader | SMCs | MMCs | Seats | +/– | Status | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Votes | % | Votes | % | |||||
2010 | András Schiffer Bernadett Szél |
259,220 | 5.07% (#4) | 383,876 | 7.48% (#4) | 16 / 386
|
New | Opposition |
Election | Leader | Constituency | Party list | Seats | +/– | Status | ||
Votes | % | Votes | % | |||||
2014 | András Schiffer Bernadett Szél |
244,191 | 4.97% (#4) | 269,414 | 5.34% (#4) | 5 / 199
|
11 | Opposition |
2018 | Ákos Hadházy Bernadett Szél |
312,731 | 5.68% (#5) | 404,429 | 7.06% (#4) | 8 / 199
|
3 | Opposition |
2022[a] | Máté Kanász-Nagy Erzsébet Schmuck |
1,983,708 | 36.90% (#2) | 1,947,331 | 34.44% (#2) | 5 / 199
|
3 | Opposition |
- ^ Run within United for Hungary coalition.
European Parliament
Election | European Parliament | Rank | Main candidate | Alliance | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Votes | % | ±pp | Seats won | +/− | ||||
20091 | 75,522 | 2.61% | – | 0 / 22
|
New | No. 5 | Tímea Szabó | — |
2014 | 116,904 | 5.04% | 2.43 | 1 / 21
|
1 | No. 6 | Tamás Meszerics | Greens–European Free Alliance (G-EFA) |
2019 | 75,498 | 2.18% | 2.86 | 0 / 21
|
1 | No. 8 | Gábor Vágó | — |
1 In an electoral alliance with the Humanist Party (HP).
See also
Footnotes
- ^ "Lehet Más a Jövő – Megalakult az LMP ifjúsági szervezete". 21 December 2015. Archived from the original on 27 May 2018. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
- ^ "Parlamentswahl in Ungarn". Faz.net. 8 April 2018. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
- ISBN 9783647369600.
- hvg.hu.
- ^ "European Green Party supports Budapest mayor Gergely Karácsony". European Green Party. 25 March 2024. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
- ISBN 978-1-47584-152-7.
- ISBN 978-1-136-22595-6.
- ISBN 978-0-19-959937-0.
- ^ "LMP to garner protest votes". The Budapest Sun. 28 October 2008. Archived from the original on 11 June 2009. Retrieved 2 February 2009.
- ^ Press Release: European Greens Support European Election Campaigns of LMP in Hungary and Zelenite in Bulgaria (EGP News)
- ^ "The detailed results of the European Parliamentary elections". 7 June 2009. Archived from the original on 23 August 2009. Retrieved 30 June 2010.
- ^ "Index – Belföld – Választás – Eredmények". Retrieved 14 February 2015.
- ^ Otthagyja a pártot az LMP egyetlen polgármestere Archived 23 October 2010 at the Wayback Machine Hírszerző, 2010. október 20.
- ^ "Fidesz candidate cruises to victory in closely-watched Budapest by-election". Politics.hu. 15 November 2011. Archived from the original on 10 June 2017. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
- Index. 25 November 2011. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
- ^ Szalay Tamás Lajos (12 July 2011). "Belföld: 'Saját fegyverével kell felszámolni a Fidesz rendszerét'". NOL.hu. Retrieved 14 February 2015.
- ^ "Az Európai Zöld Párt teljes jogú tagja lett az LMP" (in Hungarian). Origo. 13 November 2011. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
- ^ "Beintett Bajnainak az LMP, lemondott Jávor Benedek". 18 November 2012. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
- ^ "LMP fails to elect new parliamentary group leader as split in party continues". 26 November 2012. Archived from the original on 16 January 2013. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
- ^ "Ismét Schiffer András az LMP-frakció vezetője". 26 November 2012. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
- ^ "LMP rejects proposals for new strategy at party congress". 27 January 2013. Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 8 February 2013.
- ^ "LMP splits over cooperation with Together 2014; caucus may remain intact". 28 January 2013. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 8 February 2013.
- ^ "LMP rebels to establish Dialogue for Hungary as a full-fledged party". 4 February 2013. Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 8 February 2013.
- ^ "Eight breakaway LMP lawmakers to sit as independents". 11 February 2013. Archived from the original on 12 September 2014. Retrieved 8 February 2013.
- ^ "Small party 4K! seeks alliance with LMP for "regime change"". 7 February 2013. Retrieved 8 February 2013.
- ^ "A 4K! önállóan indul a jövő évi választásokon". 29 September 2013. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
- Index. 24 March 2013. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
- ^ "LMP parliamentary group first with female majority in Hungary's history, says leader". 6 September 2013. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 8 February 2013.
- ^ "Fidesz wins Hungarian parliamentary election by a landslide". 7 April 2014. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
- ^ "Kezdődik az MSZP végjátéka". 26 May 2014. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
- ^ "Kiteljesedik egy régi liezon, összejön az LMP és a 4K!". 4 August 2014. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
- ^ "Megmaradt a Fidesz egyeduralma". 13 October 2014. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
- ^ "Valamit brutálisan elszámolt a baloldal". 13 October 2014. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
- ^ "A csalódott fideszesekre építene az LMP". 18 July 2015. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
- ^ "Schiffer András kiszáll a politikából, visszaadja a mandátumát". Heti Világgazdaság (in Hungarian). 31 May 2016. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
- Index. 30 January 2017. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
- Index. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
- ^ "Demeter Márta az LMP frakciójában folytatja". Alfahír. 1 September 2017. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
- Index. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
- ^ Zrt., HVG Kiadó (2 December 2017). "Összeállt az LMP és az Új Kezdet". hvg.hu (in Hungarian). Retrieved 2 December 2017.
- ^ https://europeangreens.eu/news/european-green-party-supports-budapest-mayor-gergely-karacsony/
- ISBN 978-0-198-80356-0.. The Wall Street Journal. Budapest. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
- "Until Orbán is around*, he will inevitably win". Heti Válasz. 19 April 2022. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
Before 2020 the parties may have cherished the idea of establishing independent party lists, in the form of an „old-school leftist" block (Hungarian Socialist Party and Democratic Coalition) and a block of „new wave" parties (centre-right Jobbik, centrist LMP, liberal Momentum and new leftist Párbeszéd „Dialogue" party), which could have formed a coalition government in case they won.
- "Hungarian Election 2018. Nationalist rhetoric and foreign capital keep Fidesz-KDNP strong". Baltic Worlds. 13 April 2018. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
The oldest and largest of them is Politics Can Be Different (LMP), which has a centrist and green profile.
- Hinshaw, Drew; Komuves, Anita (8 April 2018). "Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban Wins Fourth Term"
- "Until Orbán is around*, he will inevitably win". Heti Válasz. 19 April 2022. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
- "Steht Ungarn vor Wahl-Allianz aus Links und Rechts?". MDR. 29 December 2017. Archived from the original on 15 June 2020. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
- "Von Orbáns rechtem Bürgerverband bis zur Partei des zweischwänzigen Hundes". Der Standard. 5 April 2018. Retrieved 3 May 2023.