WikipediaExtracts:Fidesz
Extracted from Wikipedia --
Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Alliance (Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈfidɛs]; Hungarian: Fidesz – Magyar Polgári Szövetség) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Hungary, led by Viktor Orbán.
It was formed in 1988 under the name of Alliance of Young Democrats (Fiatal Demokraták Szövetsége) as a centre-left and liberal activist movement that opposed the ruling Marxist–Leninist government. It was registered as a political party in 1990, with Orbán as its leader. It entered the National Assembly following the 1990 parliamentary election; however, it lost two seats after the 1994 election. Following the election, it adopted liberal-conservatism which caused liberal members to leave and to join the Alliance of Free Democrats. It then sought to form a connection with other conservative parties, and after the 1998 election, it successfully formed a centre-right government. It adopted nationalism in the early 2000s, but its popularity slightly declined due to corruption scandals. It served in the opposition between 2002 and 2010, and in 2006 it formed a coalition with the Christian Democratic People's Party (KDNP).
The Őszöd speech (which was followed by mass protests) restored its popularity, which led Fidesz to winning a supermajority in the 2010 election. After returning to governing Hungary, it adopted national-conservative policies and shifted further to the right. It also became more critical of the European Union, which led to the party being described as Eurosceptic. In 2011, the new Hungarian constitution was adopted in the parliament and in 2012 it became effective, although it was subject to controversies due to its consolidation of power to Fidesz. Its majority of seats remained after the 2014 election, and following the escalation of the migrant crisis, Fidesz began using right-wing populist and anti-immigrant rhetoric. Since its inception, its political position has changed drastically, and Fidesz is now positioned as a right-wing or far-right party. Political scientists have described the party's governance as illiberal or authoritarian, with Orbán describing their model of government as "Christian illiberal democracy".
Following the 2022 Hungarian parliamentary election, it currently holds a majority in the National Assembly with 135 seats. It has also held the presidency since 2010, has endorsed the election of every president since 2000, and it enjoys majorities in all 19 county assemblies, while being in opposition in the General Assembly of Budapest. Fidesz was initially a member of the Liberal International until 2000, after which it joined the European People's Party. It remained its member until 2021, and since then it has served with the Non-Inscrits group within the European Parliament.
