Politics of Hungary

Hungary

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Hungary

Constitution President Pál Schmitt Prime Minister (List) Viktor Orbán National Assembly Speaker László Kövér Political parties Fidesz - Jobbik - KDNP LMP - MDF - MSZP Other parties Constitutional Court Elections 1990 - 1994 - 1998 - 2002 - 2006 - 2010 Regions Counties Subregions Cities, towns, and villages Politics of the European Union Foreign relations

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Politics of Hungary takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic. The Prime Minister is the head of government of a pluriform multi-party system, while the President is the head of state and holds a largely ceremonial position.

Executive power is exercised by the Council of Ministers. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the parliament. The party system since the last elections is completely dominated by the conservative Fidesz. The two larger oppositions are MSZP and Jobbik. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.

The Republic of Hungary is an independent, democratic and constitutional state, which has been a member of the European Union since 2004. Since the constitutional amendment of 23 October 1989, Hungary is a parliamentary republic. Legislative power is exercised by the unicameral National Assembly that consists of 386 members. Members of the National Assembly are elected for four years.

The executive branch of the People's Republic of Hungary (Communist Hungary) was represented by the Council of Ministers.

Executive branch

Main office holders

Office	Name	Party	Since
President	Pál Schmitt	Fidesz	6 August 2010
Prime Minister	Viktor Orbán	Fidesz	29 May 2010

The President of the Republic, elected by the National Assembly every five years, has a largely ceremonial role, but he is nominally the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces and his powers include the nomination of the Prime Minister who is to be elected by a majority of the votes of the Members of Parliament, based on the recommendation made by the President of the Republic.

Due to the Hungarian Constitution, based on the post-WWII Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany, the Prime Minister has a leading role in the executive branch as he selects Cabinet ministers and has the exclusive right to dismiss them (similarly to the competences of the German federal chancellor). Each cabinet nominee appears before one or more parliamentary committees in consultative open hearings, survive a vote by the Parliament and must be formally approved by the president.

Legislative branch

Main article: Elections in Hungary

The unicameral, 386-member National Assembly (Országgyűlés) is the highest organ of state authority and initiates and approves legislation sponsored by the prime minister. Its members are elected for a four year term. 176 members are elected in single-seat constituencies, 152 by proportional representation in multi-seat constituencies, and 58 so-called compensation seats are distributed based on the number of votes "lost" (i.e., the votes that did not produce a seat) in either the single-seat or the multi-seat constituencies. The election threshold is 5%, but it only applies to the multi-seat constituencies and the compensation seats, not the single-seat constituencies.

Political parties and elections

For other political parties see List of political parties in Hungary. An overview on elections and election results is included in Elections in Hungary.

 Summary of the 11 April and 25 April 2010 National Assembly (Országgyűlés) elections

Parties	List Votes	%	Constituencies 1st round	%	Constituencies 2nd round	%	Seats
Hungarian Socialist Party (Magyar Szocialista Párt, MSZP)	990.428	19.3	1.088.374	21.3	326.361	28.3	59
Jobbik - The Movement for a Better Hungary (Jobbik Magyarországért mozgalom)	855.436	16.7	836.774	16.3	141.415	12.3	47
Fidesz-KDNP Fidesz (Fidesz - Magyar Polgári Szövetség) Christian Democratic People's Party (Kereszténydemokrata Néppárt, KDNP)	2.706.292	52.7	2.743.626	53.6	629.028	54.6	263
Politics Can Be Different (Lehet Más A Politika,LMP)	383.876	7.5	259.220	5.06	43.437	3.7	16
Independent (Független)	0	0	33.702	0.06	12.452	0.1	1
Total	5,408,050	100.0	5,403,691	100.0	3,239,752	100.0	386
Source: Valasztas.hu

Judicial branch

An eleven member Constitutional Court has power to challenge legislation on grounds of unconstitutionality. This body was last filled on July 2010. Currently has 10 members.

The President of the Supreme Court and the Hungarian civil and penal legal system he leads is fully independent of the Executive Branch.

The Attorney General or Chief Prosecutor of Hungary is currently fully independent of the Executive Branch, but his status is actively debated.

Several ombudsman offices exist in Hungary to protect civil, minority, educational and ecological rights in non-judicial matters. They have held the authority to issue legally binding decisions since late 2003.

Financial branch

The central bank, the Hungarian National Bank has been fully independent between 1990–2004, but new legislation gave certain appointment rights to the Executive Branch in November 2004 which is disputed before the Constitutional Court.

Administrative divisions

Hungary is divided in 19 counties (megyék, singular - megye), 23 urban counties* (megyei jogú városok, singular - megyei jogú város), and 1 capital city** (főváros); Bács-Kiskun, Baranya, Békés, Békéscsaba*, Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén, Budapest**, Csongrád, Debrecen*, Dunaújváros*, Eger*, Érd*, Fejér, Győr*, Győr-Moson-Sopron, Hajdú-Bihar, Heves, Hódmezővásárhely*, Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok, Kaposvár*, Kecskemét*, Komárom-Esztergom, Miskolc*, Nagykanizsa*, Nógrád, Nyíregyháza*, Pécs*, Pest, Salgótarján*, Somogy, Sopron*, Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg, Szeged*, Szekszárd*, Székesfehérvár*, Szolnok*, Szombathely*, Tatabánya*, Tolna, Vas, Veszprém, Veszprém*, Zala, Zalaegerszeg*

Member of the international organizations

Hungary is member of ABEDA, Australia Group, BIS, CE, CEI, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, EU (member, as by May 1, 2004), FAO, G-9, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, ITUC, NAM (guest), NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, SECI, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNOMIG, UNU, UPU, WCO, WEU (associate), WFTU, Visegrád group, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, Zangger Committee

Ministries

Note: with restructruring and reorganization, this information may change even within a governmental period.

Ministries of Hungary

English name	Hungarian name	Minister
Ministry of Home Affairs	Belügyminisztérium	Sándor Pintér
Ministry of Rural Development	Vidékfejlesztési Minisztérium	Sándor Fazekas
Ministry of Defence	Honvédelmi Minisztérium	Csaba Hende
Ministry of National Development	Nemzeti Fejlesztési Minisztérium	Tamás Fellegi
Minister of National Resources	Nemzeti Erőforrás Minisztérium	Miklós Réthelyi
Ministry of Foreign Affairs	Külügyminisztérium	János Martonyi
Ministry of Administration and Justice	Közigazgatási és Igazságügyi Minisztérium	Tibor Navracsics
Ministry of National Economic Affairs	Nemzetgazdasági Minisztérium	György Matolcsy

Ministers without portfolio

• Ministers without portfolio: Zsolt Semjén

(Sources differ on the English names.)

External links

• Politics.hu - English-language resource about Hungarian politics