Christian Democratic People's Party (Hungary)
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Christian Democratic People's Party
Kereszténydemokrata Néppárt |
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| Leader | Zsolt Semjén |
| Founded | 1943, 1989 (refoundation) |
| Headquarters | 1072 Budapest, István utca Dózsa György út sarok |
| Ideology |
Christian democracy Christian nationalism Social conservatism |
| Political position | Centre-right |
| European affiliation | European People's Party |
| International affiliation | None |
| European Parliament group | European People's Party |
| Colours | Red, White, Green (Colours of the Hungarian flag) and Gold |
| National Assembly: |
17 / 199
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| European Parliament: |
1 / 21
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| Website | |
| kdnp |
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The Christian Democratic People's Party (Hungarian: Kereszténydemokrata Néppárt, KDNP) is a political party in Hungary. It is officially a coalition partner of ruling party Fidesz, but in reality it is a satellite party of Fidesz, and has been unable to get into the Parliament on its own since 1994 when it barely passed the election threshold of 5% of votes. Without Fidesz, its support cannot be measured, and even a leading Fidesz politician, János Lázár stated that Fidesz doesn't consider the government to be a coalition government.
The party was founded under the name of KDNP on 13 October 1944 by Hungarian Catholic statesmen, intellectuals and clergy, and was a successor to the pre-war United Christian Party. Among the founders were Bishop Vilmos Apor, Béla Kovrig (president of the University of Kolozsvár), László Varga, General József Pálffy, ethnographer Sándor Bálint and political journalist István Barankovics. It was an offshoot of the Catholic Social Folk Movement (KSzN), a civil organization. At the beginning of 1945 they elected Barankovics as principal secretary.
The new KDNP enjoyed just four or five months of semi-legality towards the end of World War II. At the end of the war, the communist-dominated post-war authorities refused to legalize it or permit it to operate further. Despite attempts by Varga and Barankovics, they were refused official permission to operate and take part in elections. Some of the party's founders, including Varga, were imprisoned for some days by detachments of the Arrow Cross Party.
Meanwhile, some party members were saying that Barankovics conceded too much to the communist-influenced authorities in return for too little, and there was growing friction between two factions: the Christian socialist left wing led by Barankovics and the conservative-clerical right wing led by József Mindszenty's confidant, József Pálffy. The left wing gained increasing ascendancy in the party, and on 8 May 1945, Barankovics replaced Pálffy as president. The party changed its name to the Democratic People's Party (DNP), while a group led by Pálffy founded a new party called KDNP, which, however, failed to remain legal in an atmosphere of increasing Soviet influence. The 1947 elections saw the DNP finish second in the popular vote, winning 60 of the 411 seats.
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Wikipedia