The Republican Party ( hu, Köztársaság Párt; KP) was a

conservative liberal Conservative liberalism or right-liberalism is a variant of liberalism, combining liberal values and policies with conservative stances, or simply representing the right-wing of the liberal movement. M. Gallagher, M. Laver and P. Mair, ''Repre ...

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricit ...

party in Hungary.

History

The Republican Party was founded by entrepreneurs, businessmen and intellectuals on 3 August 1992, at the initiative of economist and Member of Parliament

János Palotás János or Janos may refer to: * János, male Hungarian given name, a variant of John Places * Janos Municipality, a municipality of Chihuahua ** Janos, Chihuahua, town in Mexico ** Janos Biosphere Reserve, a nature reserve in Chihuahua * Jano ...

, who formerly had been a non-partisan member of the governing

Hungarian Democratic Forum The Hungarian Democratic Forum ( hu, Magyar Demokrata Fórum, MDF) was a centre-right political party in Hungary. It had a Hungarian nationalist, national-conservative, Christian-democratic ideology. The party was represented continuously in th ...

(MDF) parliamentary group. As President of the National Association of Entrepreneurs, Palotás became a well-known public figure during the so-called "Taxi blockade" in October 1990, when laid the foundations of his popularity by decisive action, supporting the taxi drivers' demands. Because of the increasing conflicts, Palotás left the MDF caucus on 8 March 1992. Economist László Fodor, also Secretary General of the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce, professor of psychiatry András Veér and lawyer

Péter Bárándy Péter Bárándy (born 12 June 1949) is a Hungarian politician and jurist, who served as Minister of Justice between 2002 and 2004. He is a member of the Bárándy family, which is a famous lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. ...

became members of the leadership. Three other MPs, László Czoma (Ind.),

János Petrenkó János Petrenkó (30 March 1940 – 3 March 2020) was a Hungarian industrialist, inventor and politician, member of the National Assembly (MP) from 1990 to 1994. He was noted as owner of the first private large company, the rolling mill for heavy ...

( MSZP) and Mihály Mózes (

SZDSZ The Alliance of Free Democrats – Hungarian Liberal Party ( hu, Szabad Demokraták Szövetsége – a Magyar Liberális Párt, SZDSZ) was a liberal political party in Hungary. The SZDSZ was a member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democra ...

) also joined the Republican Party. Its campaign strategy included the takeover of the US model, well-organized media activities and regular thematic press conferences. The KP described itself as a "pragmatist" party without historical and ideological dogmas. Prior to the 1994 parliamentary election, the Republican Party began negotiations on electoral cooperation with leaders of the

Agrarian Alliance The Agrarian Alliance – National Agrarian Party ( hu, Agrárszövetség – Nemzeti Agrár Párt, ASZ) was a political party in Hungary. History The alliance was formed in December 1989. In the 1990 Hungarian parliamentary election, March 1990 ...

(ASZ), the Alliance of Free Democrats (SZDSZ) and the Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP). The KP was able to nominee 83 candidates, 17 county regional lists and also set up a national list in the 1994 election. The Republican Party received 137,484 votes (2.55%) thus did not reach the electoral threshold. Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p. 899. In the 1994 local election, lawyer

György Magyar György Magyar (born 23 October 1949) is a Hungarian lawyer, politician and university teacher. He has served as Vice Chairman of the Everybody's Hungary Movement since 2018. In 1973, he graduated from the Faculty of Law of the Eötvös Loránd ...

was the party's candidate for the position of

mayor of Budapest The Mayor of Budapest ( hu, Budapest főpolgármestere) is the head of the General Assembly in Budapest, Hungary, elected directly for 5-year term since 2014 (previously municipal elections were held quadrennially). Until 1994 the mayor was elect ...

. Palotás resigned as party leader on 15 May 1996, following charges of tax fraud concerning his companies. After the brief interim leadership of Róbert Frenkl, György Magyar was elected as the chairman of the party. The Republican Party was one of the founding members of the 13-member electoral coalition

Union for Hungary Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''U ...

(EMU) in October 1997, however the newly established organization received only 0.19 percent of the votes in the 1998 parliamentary election. Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p. 926. After the failure, the Republican Party has gradually disappeared from the public life. It was officially abolished by the Metropolitan Court of Budapest in October 2003.

Election results

National Assembly

References

Sources

External links

Bibliography
{{Hungarian political parties Defunct political parties in Hungary Political parties established in 1992 Political parties disestablished in 2003 1992 establishments in Hungary 2003 disestablishments in Hungary Conservative liberal parties