Tuesday, November 17, 2015

@ALDEParty Congress - so, why Budapest?

Normally, I would attempt to come up with some kind of pun linked to the country the event takes place in. Sadly, there is little humorous about the politics of Hungary, where European liberals gather this weekend. Indeed, the purpose of holding the ALDE Party Congress there is to provide some support to the liberal forces that remain there.

Once upon a time, Hungary had a lot of liberals, with the Alliance of Free Democrats (SZDSZ) holding ninety-three of the 386 seats in the first post-communist Parliament, and FIDESZ holding another twenty-one. But, alas, FIDESZ discovered that conservative nationalism was more electorally acceptable, and the Free Democrats went into coalition with the Hungarian Socialists, leading to a rapid decline and eventual extinction.

There are some grounds for slight optimism, however, in the formation of the Hungarian Liberal Party two years ago. Running as part of a left-wing coalition, their leader, and former leader of SZDSZ, Gabor Fodor, won a 'party list' seat in the 2014 elections, and in a by-election earlier this year, an independent candidate, Zoltan Kesz, was elected in something of an upset, causing FIDESZ to lose their supermajority in the Parliament - preventing them from amending the constitution alone.

So, with any luck, our gathering will offer Hungarian liberals some moral support as they seek to rebuild. Me, I'll be offering moral support of a slightly different sort...

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