- Most–Híd
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Most–Híd
Most–Híd
Leader Béla Bugár Founded 30 June 2009 Ideology Inter-ethnic cooperation
Hungarian minority interests
Liberal conservatismPolitical position Centre-right[1][2][3] International affiliation None European affiliation None National Council 10 / 150European Parliament 0 / 13Website http://www.most-hid.sk/ Politics of Slovakia
Political parties
ElectionsMost–Híd (Slovak: Most, Hungarian: Híd, literally: Bridge) is a centre-right political party in Slovakia. Its programme calls for greater cooperation between the country's Hungarian minority and ethnic Slovaks. It has ten members of National Council and is part of the centre-right coalition government, in which Most–Híd members Rudolf Chmel and Zsolt Simon are ministers.
The party was formed in June 2009 by defectors from the Party of the Hungarian Coalition (SMK), which the defectors accused of being too nationalistic. Led by Béla Bugár, the party claims to have a membership that's two-thirds ethnic Hungarian and one-third ethnic Slovak. In the 2010 election, the party won ten seats in the National Council – the Civic Conservative Party won a further four seats on the Most–Híd list – whereas the SMK fell short of the 5% threshold.
Contents
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. Béla Bugár, who had also been the president of his former party for 10 years, was elected its president. It was established as a Slovak-Hungarian cooperation alternative to the Party of the Hungarian Coalition, electing Rudolf Chmel to be its vice president representing ethnic Slovaks. The party wants to represent the interests of the ethnic Hungarians while working together with the Slovaks.[4]
Rudolf Chmel expressed his view that the soaring nationalism can not be let to distract from the search for common solutions to the mutual problems of the Slovaks and the Hungarians. According to Peter Huncik about 60 to 65 percent members are Hungarians, while 35 to 40 are Slovaks.[5]
Polls from mid-September 2009 gave Most–Híd between 3 and 5.6 percent.[6] An opinion poll by Focus in May 2010 gave Most–Híd 5.6% of the vote.[7] In the Slovak parliamentary elections of 12 June 2010, Most-Hid received 8.12% of the vote, winning 14 seats in parliament.
Elected representatives
Most–Híd has two members of the government of Slovakia:
- Rudolf Chmel – Deputy Prime Minister for Human Rights and Minorities
- Zsolt Simon – Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Regional Development
Most–Híd has ten members of the National Council:
- Tibor Bastrnák
- Béla Bugár
- Gábor Gál
- Elemér Jakab
- László A. Nagy
- Edita Pfundtner
- Igor Sidor
- László Solymos
- Ivan Švejna
- Péter Vörös
The Civic Conservative Party's four members also sit in the Most–Híd parliamentary group:
- Ondrej Dostál
- Peter Osuský
- František Šebej
- Peter Zajac
Footnotes
- ^ "First vote, then choose". The Economist. 15 June 2010. http://www.economist.com/blogs/easternapproaches/2010/06/slovakia_0.
- ^ "Slovak opposition wins majority in vote-exit polls". Reuters. 12 June 2010. http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSBSD00231120100612.
- ^ Rousek, Leos (13 June 2010). "Slovakia Vote May Lead to Economic Overhaul, Improve Relations with Hungary". Wall Street Journal. http://blogs.wsj.com/new-europe/2010/06/13/slovakia-vote-may-lead-to-economic-overhaul-improve-relations-with-hungary/.
- ^ Kommentar posten (30 June 2009). "Neue Partei der "Ungarischen Koalition" – Slowakei – derStandard.at › International". Derstandard.at. http://derstandard.at/fs/1245820414864/Neue-Partei-der-Ungarischen-Koalition. Retrieved 15 October 2011.
- ^ Stefan Bos (12 June 2010). "Slovakia Votes Amid Scandals, Nationalist Tensions". .voanews.com. http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/europe/Slovakia-Votes-Amid-Scandals-Nationalist-Tensions-96211334.html. Retrieved 15 October 2011.
- ^ Kommentar posten. "Umfragen: Regierungspartei Smer verliert – Slowakei – derStandard.at › International". Derstandard.at. http://derstandard.at/fs/1253807720952/Umfragen-Regierungspartei-Smer-verliert. Retrieved 15 October 2011.
- ^ "The Slovak Spectator: Focus poll finds that parliamentary elections would end in stalemate". Spectator.sme.sk. http://spectator.sme.sk/articles/view/38948/10/focus_poll_finds_that_parliamentary_elections_would_end_in_stalemate.html. Retrieved 15 October 2011.
External links
Political parties in Slovakia 
In the National Council
(150 seats)Direction – Social Democracy (62) · Slovak Democratic and Christian Union – Democratic Party (28) · Freedom and Solidarity (21) · Christian Democratic Movement (15) · Most–Híd (10) · Slovak National Party (9) · Civic Conservative Party (4)In the European Parliament
(13 seats)Extra-parliamentary parties Categories:- Political parties in Slovakia
- Liberal-conservative parties
- Hungarians in Slovakia
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