Most–Híd

Most–Híd
Leader Béla Bugár
Founded 30 June 2009
Split from Party of the Hungarian Coalition
Membership  (2015) 5,350[1]
Ideology Liberal conservatism[2][3]
Hungarian minority interests[2][4]
Political position Centre[5] to Centre-right
European affiliation European People's Party
International affiliation None
European Parliament group European People's Party
Colours Orange
National Council
15 / 150
European Parliament
1 / 13
Self-Governing Region
0 / 8
Regional Parliament
17 / 408
Website
http://www.most-hid.sk/

Most–Híd (from the Slovak and Hungarian words for "bridge") is an inter-ethnic political party in Slovakia. Its programme calls for greater cooperation between the country's Hungarian minority and ethnic Slovaks. It has thirteen members of National Council and is part of the centre-right opposition against the current single-party Direction – Social Democracy government of Robert Fico.

The party was formed in June 2009 by dissidents from the Party of the Hungarian Coalition (SMK-MKP), which they accused of being too nationalistic. Most–Híd seeks to offer an alternative to ethnic politics by promoting inter-ethnic cooperation. Led by the SMK-MKP's former chairman Béla Bugár, the party claims to have an electorate that is two-thirds ethnic Hungarian and one-third ethnic Slovak.

History

The party was established on 30 June 2009 by Béla Bugár, Gábor Gál, László A. Nagy, Tibor Bastrnák and Zsolt Simon, who had previously left the Party of the Hungarian Coalition (SMK-MKP). Béla Bugár, who had also been the president of his former party for 10 years, was elected its president. It was established as an inter-ethnic Hungarian-Slovak alternative to the Party of the Hungarian Coalition. This commitment was cemented by electing Rudolf Chmel, an ethnic Slovak, as one of the party's vice presidents representing.

The party seeks to represent the interests of the ethnic Hungarians while working together with the Slovaks.[6] According to Peter Huncik about 60 to 65 percent members are Hungarians, while 35 to 40 are Slovaks.[7] This programme and political ideology manifested itself in the party first taking part in the centre-right Radičová-government between 2010 and 2012, and also cooperating with the centre-left Fico government in minority issues in the next electoral cycle.

Polls from mid-September 2009 gave Most–Híd between 3 and 5.6 percent.[8] An opinion poll by Focus in May 2010 gave Most–Híd 5.6% of the vote.[9] In the 2010 election, the party received 8.12% of the popular vote, and thus won fourteen seats in the National Council. This, however, included four seats for the Civic Conservative Party's politicians embedded within the party's list of candidates. At the same time, Most–Híd's main rival, SMK-MKP fell short of the 5% threshold and thus did not gain any seats.

In 2010, Most–Híd entered the four-party government of Iveta Radičová, and sought to advance its agenda, including in language rights, citizenship, agriculture and environmental policy. The government, however, turned out to be unstable and finally collapsed during October 2011, leading to snap elections. After months of steady polling between 6 and 9 percents, the party received 6.89% of the popular vote in the 2012 elections, winning 13 seats. As in 2010, SMK-MKP failed to reach the required threshold, leaving Most–Híd as the only parliamentary party representing the interest of the Hungarian minority in Slovakia.

In the 2014 European elections, Most–Híd came in eighth place nationally, receiving 5.83% of the vote and electing 1 MEP.[10]

In the 2016 Slovak Parliamentary election, Most–Híd gained 6,50% and joined Fico's Third Cabinet as the coalition partner.

Election results

National Council

Year Vote Vote % Seats Place Government
2010 205,538 8.12 14 5th Yes
2012 176,088 Decrease 6.89 Decrease 13 Decrease 4th No
2016 169,593 Decrease 6.50 Decrease 11 Decrease 7th Yes

European Parliament

Year Vote Vote % Seats Place
2014 32,708 5.83 1 8th

Footnotes

  1. ↑ "Najbohatšiu členskú základňu si držia Smer-SD, KDH a SMK". Hlavné Správy. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  2. 1 2 Nordsieck, Wolfram, "Slovakia", Parties and Elections in Europe, retrieved 11 March 2012
  3. ↑ Stískala, Jozef (2012), "Party System of Slovak Republic and its Stability after 2010 and 2012 Elections in Comparative Perspective", Slovak Journal of Political Sciences, 12 (3): 233
  4. ↑ Ladislav Cabada; Vít Hloušek; Petr Jurek (23 January 2014). Party Systems in East Central Europe. Lexington Books. pp. 89–. ISBN 978-0-7391-8277-2.
  5. ↑ Iveta Radicová Takes Charge of New Center-Right Coalition in Slovakia, Friends of Slovakia, retrieved 11 March 2012
  6. ↑ Kommentar posten (30 June 2009). "Neue Partei der "Ungarischen Koalition" – Slowakei – derStandard.at " International". Derstandard.at. Retrieved 15 October 2011.
  7. ↑ Stefan Bos (12 June 2010). "Slovakia Votes Amid Scandals, Nationalist Tensions". Budapest: .voanews.com. Retrieved 15 October 2011.
  8. ↑ Kommentar posten. "Umfragen: Regierungspartei Smer verliert – Slowakei – derStandard.at " International". Derstandard.at. Retrieved 15 October 2011.
  9. ↑ "The Slovak Spectator: Focus poll finds that parliamentary elections would end in stalemate". Spectator.sme.sk. Retrieved 15 October 2011.
  10. ↑ http://ep2014.statistics.sk/EP-dv/Tabulka3_en.html
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