| Politics of Hungary | |
| Native Name: | Hungarian: Magyarország politikája |
| Constitution: | Constitution of Hungary (2011) |
| Formation: | 23 October 1989 (Third Hungarian Republic)1 January 2012 (current constitution entered into force) |
| Legislature: | National Assembly |
| Legislature Type: | Unicameral |
| Legislature Place: | Hungarian Parliament Building |
| Legislature Speaker: | László Kövér |
| Legislature Speaker Title: | President of the National Assembly of Hungary |
| Lowerhouse Appointer: | Partially parallel, partially compensatory voting 106 FPTP seats, 93 PR seats with 5% electoral threshold (D'Hondt method) |
| Title Hos: | President |
| Current Hos: | Tamás Sulyok |
| Appointer Hos: | National Assembly |
| Title Hog: | Prime Minister |
| Current Hog: | Viktor Orbán |
| Appointer Hog: | National Assembly |
| Cabinet: | Government of Hungary |
| Current Cabinet: | Fifth Orbán Government |
| Cabinet Leader: | Prime Minister |
| Cabinet Deputyleader: | Zsolt Semjén, Deputy Prime Minister |
| Cabinet Appointer: | National Assembly |
| Cabinet Hq: | Carmelite Monastery of Buda |
| Cabinet Ministries: | 15 |
| Court1: | Constitutional Court of Hungary |
| Chief Judge1: | Barnabás Lenkovics |
| Court Seat1: | 1015 Budapest, Donáti utca, 35-45. |
| Court2: | Curia of Hungary |
| Chief Judge2: | András Baka |
| Court Seat2: | 1055 Budapest, Markó utca 16. |
The 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. As of 2024, The country is considered "no longer a full democracy" by the EU, and is generally said to have democratically backslid since 2010 when the Fidesz–KDNP Party Alliance led by Viktor Orbán won a two-third parliamentary supermajority and adopted a new constitution of Hungary that have both remained in place since.[1]
Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the parliament. The party system since the last elections has been dominated by the conservative Fidesz. The three larger oppositions are Democratic Coalition (DK), Momentum and Jobbik; there are also opposition parties with a small fraction in parliament (e.g. Politics Can Be Different). The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.
Hungary is an independent state, which has been a member of the European Union since 2004. Since 1989 Hungary has been a parliamentary republic. Legislative power is exercised by the unicameral National Assembly that consists of 199 members. Members of the National Assembly are elected for four years.
In the April 2022 election, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán won a fourth consecutive term in office. His party, Fidesz, secured another two-thirds majority in parliament.[2]
|President|Tamás Sulyok|Independent|5 March 2024|-|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 they are nominally the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and their 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. If the president dies, resigns or is otherwise unable to carry out his duties, the speaker of the National Assembly becomes acting president.
Due to the Hungarian Constitution, based on the post-World War II 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.
The laws are decided by the Diet of Hungary and later by the National Assembly.
In Communist Hungary, the executive branch of the Hungarian People's Republic was represented by the Council of Ministers.
|Speaker of the National Assembly|László Kövér|Fidesz|6 August 2010|}
See main article: Elections in Hungary. The unicameral, 199-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. The election threshold is 5%, but it only applies to the multi-seat constituencies and the compensation seats, not the single-seat constituencies.
There are basically two main factions in the Hungarian political system, the right-wing FIDESZ-KDNP coalition, and the center-right to left-wing United for Hungary which consists of the following parties: DK, MSZP, Jobbik, Dialogue, LMP-Greens, Momentum. There are also associate parties and movements such as ÚVNP, Liberals, New Start, MMM movement, 99M movement. There are also some minor parties which are not part of these two coalitions such as the far-right Our Homeland Movement, and the joke party called Hungarian Two Tailed Dog Party.
A fifteen-member Constitutional Court has power to challenge legislation on grounds of unconstitutionality. This body was last filled in July 2010. Members are elected for a term of twelve years. Critics of the ruling coalition contend that since the Hungarian government filled the Constitutional Court with loyal judges, the institution mostly serves to legitimize government interests and has lost its original purpose as democratic defender of the rule of law and of human rights - as several reports of independent human rights NGOs, such as the Hungarian Helsinki Committee emphasize.[3]
The president of the Supreme Court of Hungary (Curia) 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.
The central bank, the Hungarian National Bank was fully self-governing between 1990 and 2004, but new legislation gave certain appointment rights to the executive branch in November 2004 which is disputed before the Constitutional Court.
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*
Hungary is a member of the ABEDA, Australia Group, BIS, CE, CEI, CERN, CEPI EAPC, EBRD, ECE, EU (member, as by 1 May 2004), FAO, 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, SECI, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNOMIG, UNU, UPU, WCO, WFTU, Visegrád Group, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO, and the Zangger Committee.
Note: with restructuring and reorganisation, this information may change even within a governmental period.
| English name | Hungarian name | Minister | |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Prime Minister's Office | Miniszterelnökség | Gergely Gulyás | |
| The Prime Minister's Cabinet Office | A Miniszterelnöki Kabinetiroda | Antal Rogán | |
| Ministry of Home Affairs | Belügyminisztérium | Sándor Pintér | |
| Honvédelmi Minisztérium | Tibor Benkő | ||
| Ministry of Human Resources | Emberi Erőforrások Minisztériuma | Miklós Kásler | |
| Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade | Külgazdasági és Külügyminisztérium | Péter Szijjártó | |
| Ministry of Justice | Igazságügyi Minisztérium | Judit Varga | |
| Ministry of Finance | Pénzügyminisztérium | Mihály Varga | |
| Ministry of Agriculture | Agrárminisztérium | István Nagy | |
| Ministry of Innovation and Technology | Innovációs és Technológiai Minisztérium | László Palkovics |