2008 Hungarian fees abolition referendum

Last updated
Fidesz posters at Hungarian fees abolishment referendum, 2008. 2008-nepszavazas plakatok.jpg
Fidesz posters at Hungarian fees abolishment referendum, 2008.

A referendum on revoking some medical and tuition fees was held in Hungary on 9 March 2008. [1] The proposals would cancel government reforms which introduced doctor visit fees paid per visitation and medical fees paid per number of days spent in hospital as well as tuition fees in higher education. All three were supported by a majority of voters. [2] Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány stated that the fees would be abolished on 1 April 2008 following the referendum, but that the government had no funds available to replace the income lost for the higher educations institutions and health institutions due to the abolishment of the fees.

Contents

Background

The referendum was initiated by opposition party Fidesz against the ruling Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP). The procedure for the referendum started on 23 October 2006, when Viktor Orbán, the leader of Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Union announced they would hand in seven questions to the National Electorate Office, three of which (on abolishing co-payments, daily fees and college tuition fees) were officially approved on 17 December 2007 and called on 24 January 2008. It was assumed likely that the referendum would pass, but it was uncertain whether turnout would be high enough to make it valid; [3] polls indicated about 40% turnout with 80% in favour of rescinding the three reforms. [4]

To be valid, the referendum required at least 25% of the about 8 million eligible voters to vote in favour of one of the options.

Questions

Hungarian text English translation
Egyetért-e Ön azzal, hogy a fekvőbeteg-gyógyintézeti ellátásért a jelen kérdésben megtartott népszavazást követő év január 1-jétől ne kelljen kórházi napidíjat fizetni?Do you agree that inpatient care should be exempt from daily hospital fees with effect from 1 January in the year after the referendum is held on the present issue? [2]
Egyetért-e Ön azzal, hogy a háziorvosi ellátásért, fogászati ellátásért és a járóbeteg-szakellátásért a jelen kérdésben megtartott népszavazást követő év január 1-jétől ne kelljen vizitdíjat fizetni?Do you agree that family doctor care, dentistry care and special outpatient care should be exempt from consultation fees with effect from 1 January in the year after the referendum is held on the present issue? [2]
Egyetért-e Ön azzal, hogy az államilag támogatott felsőfokú tanulmányokat folytató hallgatóknak ne kelljen képzési hozzájárulást fizetni?Do you agree that students in state-subsidised higher education should be exempt from tuition fees? [2]

Results

Question I

ChoiceVotes%
For3,385,98184.1
Against640,93615.9
Invalid/blank votes32,268
Total4,059,185100
Registered voters/turnout8,040,12550.5
Source: Nohlen & Stöver, National Election Office

Question II

ChoiceVotes%
For3,321,31382.4
Against708,28317.6
Invalid/blank votes29,605
Total4,059,201100
Registered voters/turnout8,040,12550.5
Source: Nohlen & Stöver, National Election Office

Question III

ChoiceVotes%
For3,309,61682.2
Against715,64217.8
Invalid/blank votes33,863
Total4,059,121100
Registered voters/turnout8,040,12550.5
Source: Nohlen & Stöver, National Election Office

Turnout

On the day of the referendum, the following turnout data was reported:

Time%
By 07:001.13
By 09:007.66
By 11:0018.69
By 13:0026.92
By 15:0035.71
By 17:3046.34
By 19:0050.48

Voting was possible between 6:00 and 19:00. Official results showed that the necessary votes were achieved, with a turnout of over 50% (higher than opinion polls had expected).

Consequences

The MSZP–SZDSZ coalition suffered a heavy defeat. [5] After Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány intended to dismiss Health Minister Ágnes Horváth (SZDSZ), the relationship between the two parties permanently deteriorated. On 31 March 2008, various reform-related disagreements between the MSZP and SZDSZ led the SZDSZ leader János Kóka to announce that his party would quit the coalition by 1 May 2008. [6] This also meant that the MSZP formed the first minority government in Hungary since the end of communism, supported externally by SZDSZ.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Péter Medgyessy</span> Hungarian politician

Péter Medgyessy is a retired Hungarian politician who served as Prime Minister of Hungary from 27 May 2002 to 29 September 2004. On 25 August 2004, he resigned over disputes with coalition partner Alliance of Free Democrats, but remained as acting prime minister for a 30-day period as required by the Constitution, and a few additional days until his successor Ferenc Gyurcsány was confirmed by the National Assembly.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hungarian Socialist Party</span> Hungarian political party

The Hungarian Socialist Party, commonly known by its acronym MSZP, is a centre-left social-democratic and pro-European political party in Hungary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Democratic Coalition (Hungary)</span> Hungarian political party

The Democratic Coalition is a social-liberal political party in Hungary led by former Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány. Founded in 2010 as a faction within the Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP), the Democratic Coalition split from the MSZP on 22 October 2011 and became a separate party. It has nine MPs in the National Assembly and four MEPs in the European Parliament.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ferenc Gyurcsány</span> Prime Minister of Hungary from 2004 to 2009

Ferenc Gyurcsány is a Hungarian entrepreneur and politician who served as Prime Minister of Hungary from 2004 to 2009. Prior to that, he held the position of Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports between 2003 and 2004.

Elections in Hungary are held at two levels: general elections to elect the members of the National Assembly and local elections to elect local authorities. European Parliament elections are also held every 5 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christian Democratic People's Party (Hungary)</span> Hungarian political party

The Christian Democratic People's Party 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 the 1990s, being unable to pass the election threshold of 5% of the vote. Without Fidesz, its support is now low enough that it can no longer be measured, and even a leading Fidesz politician, János Lázár, stated that Fidesz does not consider the government to be a coalition government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katalin Szili</span> Hungarian politician (born 1956)

Katalin Szili is a Hungarian politician and jurist, a former Member of the National Assembly, who served as Speaker of the National Assembly from 2002 to 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2006 Hungarian parliamentary election</span>

Parliamentary elections were held in Hungary on 9 April 2006, with a second round of voting in 110 of the 176 single-member constituencies on 23 April. The Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP) emerged as the largest party in the National Assembly with 186 of the 386 seats, and continued the coalition government with the Alliance of Free Democrats (SZDSZ). It marked the first time a government had been re-elected since the end of Communist rule. To date, this is the most recent national election in Hungary not won by Fidesz-KDNP, and the last in which the victorious party did not win a two-thirds supermajority in parliament.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2002 Hungarian parliamentary election</span>

Parliamentary elections were held in Hungary on 7 April 2002, with a second round of voting in 131 of the 176 single member constituencies on 21 April. Although Fidesz remained the largest party in the National Assembly despite receiving fewer votes than the Hungarian Socialist Party, the Socialist Party was able to form a coalition government with the Alliance of Free Democrats.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2006 protests in Hungary</span> 2006 anti-government protests in Hungary

The 2006 protests in Hungary were a series of anti-government protests triggered by the release of Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány's private speech in which he confessed that his Hungarian Socialist Party had lied to win the 2006 election, and had done nothing worth mentioning in the previous four years of governing. Most of the events took place in Budapest and other major cities between 17 September and 23 October. It was the first sustained protest in Hungary since 1989.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1990 Hungarian parliamentary election</span>

Parliamentary elections were held in Hungary on 25 March 1990, with a second round of voting taking place in all but five single member constituencies on 8 April. They were the first completely free and competitive elections to be held in the country since 1945, and only the second completely free elections with universal suffrage in the country's history. The conservative, nationalist Hungarian Democratic Forum (MDF) beat the liberal and more internationalist Alliance of Free Democrats, which had spearheaded opposition to Communist rule in 1989, to become the largest party in parliament. The Hungarian Socialist Party, the former Communist party, suffered a crushing defeat, winning only 33 seats for fourth place.

A referendum on joining the European Union was held in Hungary on 12 April 2003. The proposal was approved by 83.8% of voters, with a voter turnout of 45.6%. Hungary subsequently joined the EU on 1 May 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Csaba Molnár</span> Hungarian politician

Csaba Molnár is a Hungarian politician and Member of the European Parliament (MEP). He is a member of the Democratic Coalition. He served as Minister of Transport, Communications and Energy in the second cabinet of Ferenc Gyurcsány, later as a Minister of the Prime Minister's Office in the government of Gordon Bajnai.

Local elections took place in Hungary on 1 October 2006 amidst a period of protests and demonstrations against the government of Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány. In many cities, demonstrators urged people not to vote for the MSZP candidate at the elections, and Fidesz made heavy use of the fact that Gyurcsány had admitted lying in its campaign leaflets and phone calls.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2014 European Parliament election in Hungary</span>

An election of Members of the European Parliament from Hungary to the European Parliament was held on 25 May 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hungarian Liberal Party</span> Hungarian political party

Hungarian Liberal Party is a liberal political party in Hungary that was formed on 27 April 2013 and is led by Anett Bősz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2014 Hungarian parliamentary election</span>

Parliamentary elections were held in Hungary on 6 April 2014. This parliamentary election was the 7th since the 1990 first multi-party election. The result was a victory for the Fidesz–KDNP alliance, preserving its two-thirds majority, with Viktor Orbán remaining Prime Minister. It was the first election under the new Constitution of Hungary which came into force on 1 January 2012. The new electoral law also entered into force that day. For the first time since Hungary's transition to democracy, the election had a single round. The voters elected 199 MPs instead of the previous 386 lawmakers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2016 Hungarian migrant quota referendum</span>

A referendum related to the European Union's migrant relocation plans was held in Hungary on 2 October 2016. The referendum was initiated by the government, under the provision of article 8 of the new constitution of 2012. It was commonly referred to as the kvótanépszavazás or kvótareferendum in the Hungarian media.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Second Gyurcsány Government</span>

The Second Gyurcsány Government took its oath of office on June 9, 2006, following the First Gyurcsány Government in power. This is the seventh government after the regime change. The majority of the government consisted of the Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP), which won the 2006 elections, and the Alliance of Free Democrats (SZDSZ) until 30 April 2008, when the SZDSZ recalled its ministers and left the coalition. The head of government was Ferenc Gyurcsány (MSZP). On April 14, 2009, the Parliament passed a vote of no confidence against Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány. Since 2006, the Cabinet had suffered from the aftermath of the burnt-out Őszöd speech and the subsequent demonstration series. Nor was it good for the government to try to take control of the crackdown on the protesters by deploying police officers without an identification number, which the national side has since called only the 2006 police terror. The declining GDP debt-to-GDP ratio and the borrowed IMF loan also weighed heavily on the downturn.

References

  1. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p899 ISBN   978-3-8329-5609-7
  2. 1 2 3 4 Nohlen & Stöver, p913
  3. "Hungarian president announces referendum date", Xinhua (People's Daily Online), 24 January 2008.
  4. Hungary's ruling MSZP vows to stick to medical reforms despite referendum - People's Daily Online
  5. "Majority vote 'yes' in referendum to abolish medical and higher".
  6. Chance, Gergely Szakacs (31 March 2008). "Hungary's governing coalition to break up". Reuters.