Forum (Slovak political party)
Political party in Slovakia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Forum (between 2019 and 2023 known as the Hungarian Forum Hungarian: Magyar Fórum; Slovak: Maďarské fórum; styled as Magyar Fórum – Maďarské fórum; MF) is a Slovak political party which was established on 28 February 2019. Its founder and chairman is the former minister and politician of SMK–MKP and Most–Híd, Member of the National Council, Zsolt Simon.
Forum Fórum | |
|---|---|
| |
| Abbreviation | MF |
| Chairman | Zsolt Simon |
| Deputy Chairpersons | Zsolt Gál Attila Mikolai |
| Founded | 28 February 2019 |
| Split from | Most–Híd |
| Headquarters | Padarovce 82, 98023 Padarovce |
| Membership (2022) | 33  [1] |
| Ideology | Hungarian minority interests[2] Pro-Europeanism[3] |
| Political position | Centre-right[4] |
| Colours | Red White Green |
| National Council | 0 / 150 |
| European Parliament | 0 / 15 |
| Regional governors[a] | 0 / 8 |
| Regional deputies | 0 / 419 |
| Mayors[6] | 6 / 2,904 |
| Local councillors[b] | 48 / 20,523 |
| Website | |
| magyarforum madarskeforum | |
The main goal of the party is to ensure the parliamentary representation of Hungarians in Slovakia and to use it as a tool for actions so that people from the Hungarian community are equal citizens of a democratic Slovakia.[4]
History
The party was founded in February 2019 by Zsolt Simon, a non-attached member of the National Council of the Slovak Republic, who resigned from the Most–Híd party in 2016 due to its entry into the governing coalition with the Smer-SD and SNS parties.[7]
Prior to the 2020 elections, the party intensively negotiated a joint list of candidates with the remaining four parties of the Hungarian minority (SMK-MKP, MOST-HÍD, MKDA-MKDSZ and Spolupatričnosť), but by the end of October 2019 the parties had not reached an agreement.[8] The problem is a different view of the possibility of cooperation with current government parties. The Hungarian Forum refuses to cooperate with SMER, SNS and ĽSNS.[4][7] If there is no joint coalition candidacy of all five parties, the Hungarian Forum wants to run with the SMK and the Co-operation under the name Hungarian Community Co-operation.[9] In November 2019, they announced that they were preparing a three-party coalition with the SMK and the MKÖ-MKS.[10]
Party program
The party has as its priorities a change in the preamble of the Constitution of Slovakia, a change in the financing of local governments, as well as a change in the territorial and legal division of the country (counties, districts).[4] The Hungarian Forum wants to push for the southern regions to receive an average amount of public investment and expenditure, from infrastructure development, through the support of industrial parks and private investment, to the promotion of Hungarian cultural life. In the cultural field, it requires the unrestricted use of the Hungarian mother tongue, both verbally and in writing, in the regions where the minority lives, and in official relations its equivalence with the official Slovak language.[4]
Presidency currently up to 6 November 2019:[11]
- Zsolt Simon - Chairman
- Erzsébet Janits - Vice-Chairman
- Zsolt Gál - Vice-Chairman
- Viktor Bugár - Member of the Presidency
- Tamás Bojtoš - Member of the Presidency
- Dániel Miklóš - Member of the Presidency
Election results
National Council
| Election | Leader | Votes | % | Rank | Seats | +/– | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Zsolt Simon | 3,486 | 16th | 0 / 150 |
New | Extra-parliamentary |