Christian Democratic People's Party (Hungary)

The Christian Democratic People's Party (Hungarian: Kereszténydemokrata Néppárt, KDNP) is a right-wing Christian democratic political party in Hungary. It is officially a coalition partner of the ruling party, Fidesz, but is mostly considered a satellite party of Fidesz,and has been unable to get into the Parliament on its own since 1998. For several elections prior to the pact, they had been unable to pass the election threshold of 5% of the vote. Without Fidesz, its support cannot be measured,and even a leading Fidesz politician, János Lázár, stated that Fidesz does not consider the government to be a coalition government.

 History 
The party was founded in 1944 during World War II, aiming to represent Christian democratic values. In 1945, it was renamed the Democratic People's Party and became a significant political force. However, in 1949, under pressure from the communist regime, the party was forced to dissolve, and its leader, István Barankovics, fled abroad. 

After four decades of political inactivity during the communist era, the KDNP was re-established in 1989 as Hungary transitioned to democracy. It participated in the National Round Table discussions and joined the first post-communist government coalition led by the Hungarian Democratic Forum. 

In the early 2000s, the party faced internal challenges but regained stability under the leadership of Zsolt Semjén. Since then, the KDNP has been an ally of the Fidesz, contributing to Hungary's political landscape by promoting Christian democratic principles.

References

Category:Political parties in Hungary
Category:1944 establishments in Europe