Fidesz

The Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Alliance (Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈfidɛs]; in full, Hungarian: Fidesz – Magyar Polgári Szövetség) is a major national conservativepolitical party in Hungary. On a joint list with the Christian Democratic People's Party, Fidesz won two historic supermajorities in the National Assembly in both the 2010 and 2014 elections (two by-elections, both in Veszprém county, have since eliminated the supermajority). Fidesz is, by far, the most popular party in Hungary, with majorities in all county legislatures (19 of 19), almost all (20 of 23) urban counties and in the Budapest city council too, based on the 2014 local elections. It has been described as a big tent party. Fidesz is a member of the European People's Party (EPP).

History

The party was founded in 1988, named simply Fidesz (Fiatal Demokraták Szövetsége, meaning the Alliance of Young Democrats), originally as a youthful libertarian, anti-communist party. Fidesz was founded by young democrats, mainly students, who were persecuted by the communist party and had to meet in small, clandestine groups. The movement became a major force in many areas of modern Hungarian history. The membership had an upper age limit of 35 years (this requirement was abolished at the 1993 congress).