Wikipedia

Momentum Movement

Not to be confused with Momentum (organisation) or Momentum Party.

Momentum Movement (Hungarian: Momentum Mozgalom, Momentum) is a centrist Hungarian political party founded in March 2017. It came to national prominence as a political association in January 2017 after organizing a petition about the Budapest bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics, calling for a public referendum on the matter. The petition, which gathered over 266,151 signatures, was successful, but the government cancelled the Olympic bid before a referendum could have been held.[8] After its establishment as a political party, Momentum quickly built a national following, and presently has approximately 4,000 members.[when?] Momentum party candidates appeared on the ballot in most electoral districts in the 2018 Hungarian parliamentary election, promoting the replacement of the government of Viktor Orbán and advocating a new generation of political change in the country. The party obtained 3.06% of the votes, failed to reach the 5% threshold and did not get any seats in the National Assembly. In the 2019 European Parliament election in Hungary, the party obtained 9.86% and became the third largest party in the election. Two candidates of the party – Katalin Cseh and Anna Donáth – were elected to the European Parliament.[9] In the 2022 Hungarian parliamentary election it ran under the list of the United for Hungary and entered parliament for the first time with 10 MPs.[10][11][12]

Momentum Movement
Momentum Mozgalom
AbbreviationMomentum
LeaderMárton Tompos
Deputy LeaderLajos Lőcsei
Executive Board Members
SpokespersonÁron Varsányi
Founded4 March 2017
Headquarters1077 Budapest, Rózsa utca 22.
NewspaperVan remény
Youth wingMomentum TizenX
Membership2,500
IdeologyLiberalism[3]
Political positionCentre[6]
European affiliationAlliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe[7]
European Parliament groupRenew Europe
(2019–2024)
International affiliationLiberal International (observer member)
Colours  Purple
SloganÚj arcok, új Magyarország
('New faces, new Hungary')
National Assembly
10 / 199
European Parliament
0 / 21
County Assemblies
37 / 381
General Assembly of Budapest
0 / 33
Website
momentum.hu

Political positions

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Momentum advocates for the replacement of the present Hungarian political elite, including the government of Viktor Orbán, with a "new breed of political community in Hungary."[13] The party is generally pro-European, pro-globalisation, and anti-Putin, claiming that Hungary does not need to sacrifice its own interests in order to fulfil its commitments to the European Union. The party's social views are largely progressive in nature; it supports same-sex marriage, the decriminalisation of cannabis, and abortion rights.[14] Momentum nonetheless calls itself a centrist party, and rejects classification on either side of the political spectrum. It calls for bipartisan co-operation, writing in its mission statement that Hungary "must not be divided by ideological battles, but brought together by common goals."[15]

History

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In early 2015, the Momentum Movement group was created by ten Hungarians. On November 3, 2016, the group registered as an association, led by lawyer Dániel Károly Csala. By February 2017, the association lead a drive for a referendum on Budapest's bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics: they had 143 members and 1,800 activists. On March 4, 2017, Momentum Movement became an official political party, with 99 founding members. András Fekete-Győr was elected as party leader, while Anna Orosz, Tamás Soproni, Edina Pottyondy and Barnabás Kádár became deputy presidents.[16]

In May 2017, pollsters estimated that the party stood at 3% national support. Most of its supporters were high school graduates under the age of 40 or college-educated urban residents.[citation needed] In October 2017, the party released its platform for the upcoming election (Hungarian: országos program), a 363-page document proposing solutions to an array of perceived issues in the Hungarian governmental system. The critical reception to the document was mixed: one major Hungarian news outlet, the Magyar Idők, called the document a "pile of empty promises," while another, hvg.hu, wrote that the document's proposed healthcare policy seemed "the most detailed and thorough." In March 2018, the party announced that their parliamentary candidates would be on the ballot in 97 out of 106 electoral districts in Hungary. On April 8, 2018, the party obtained 3.08% of the popular vote in the parliamentary elections. Momentum did not meet the threshold for the party to be recognized in parliament, but qualified for government subsidies for the next term.

On May 5, 2018, the president of the party resigned, and the three head directors of the party temporarily took over leadership. In April 2019, the party was registered for the 2019 European Parliament election. On May 26, 2019, the party obtained 9.86% of the popular vote (becoming the third largest party in the election), thus meeting the 5% threshold: two candidates of the party were elected to the European Parliament.

In 2019 local election, the party managed to win mayorships of three Budapest districts and 29 seats in counties' assemblies (mostly in Pest county).

Organizational structure

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Organizational hubs

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Momentum has 95 organizational hubs across Hungary, as well as ten international hubs in Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, the UK, Belgium, France, Denmark and Sweden.[17]

Organizational structure

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Operation of Momentum is overseen by a chair of five members, including the president of the party (see below), while the Congress of Delegates (Hungarian: Küldöttgyűlés) serves as the party's primary decision-making group.

Chair members

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  • President: András Fekete-Győr, a lawyer and one of the founders of Momentum
  • Vice President: Anna Júlia Donáth, a sociologist who previously worked with NGOs on problems of immigration and gay rights
  • Executive Board Members
    • Dániel Berg, previously the international attorney of Momentum
    • Miklós Hajnal, the leader of Momentum's anti-Olympic bid campaign

Election results

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National Assembly

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Election Leader Constituency Party list Seats +/– Status
Votes % Votes %
2018 András Fekete-Győr 75,033 1.36% (#6) 175,229 3.06% (#6)
0 / 199
 new Extra-parliamentary
2022[a] Anna Donáth 1,983,708 36.90% (#2) 1,947,331 34.44% (#2)
10 / 199
   10 Opposition
  1. ^ Run within United for Hungary coalition.

European Parliament

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Election List leader Votes % Seats +/− EP Group
2019 Katalin Cseh 344,512 9.93 (#3)
2 / 21
 New RE
2024 Anna Donáth 169,082 3.70 (#5)
0 / 21
   2 −

History of leaders

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Image Name Entered office Left office Length of Leadership
1   András Fekete-Győr 4 March 2017 10 October 2021 4 years, 7 months and 6 days
–   Anna Orosz (interim) 10 October 2021 21 November 2021 1 month and 11 days
2   Anna Donáth 21 November 2021 29 May 2022 6 months and 8 days
3 Ferenc Gelencsér 29 May 2022 28 January 2024 1 year, 7 months and 30 days
4   Anna Donáth 28 January 2024 7 July 2024 10 months and 5 days
5   Márton Tompos 7 July 2024 present 4 months and 26 days

References

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  1. ^ Zubor Zalán (1 May 2017). "Momentum – centrista, nemzeti és liberális". Hír TV (in Hungarian). Retrieved 11 April 2018.
  2. ^ "A new Hungarian liberal party challenges the autocratic Viktor Orban". The Economist. 24 June 2017. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
  3. ^ [1][2]
  4. ^ Meret Baumann (2 May 2017). "Wenn wir wegen ein paar hundert Flüchtlingen um unsere Kultur fürchten müssen, dann haben wir eine schwache Kultur". Neue Zürcher Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 11 April 2018.
  5. ^ Bayer, Lili (1 April 2022). "Hungarian opposition's 'forced marriage' to unseat Viktor Orbán". Politico Europe. Budapest. Retrieved 24 October 2023.
  6. ^ [4][5]
  7. ^ "Orbán fő ellenségének pártcsaládjához csatlakozott a Momentum". 2018-11-10. Retrieved 2018-11-09.
  8. ^ Tamás, Dull Szabolcs, Német (2017-02-17). "Sínen a népszavazás: 266 151 aláírást adott le a Momentum". index.hu (in Hungarian). Retrieved 2019-01-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  9. ^ Szabolcs, Dull (2019-05-27). "Ők lesznek a magyar EP-képviselők". Index.hu (in Hungarian). Retrieved 2019-06-18.
  10. ^ Márk, Herczeg (2017-05-01). "A Momentum első nagy tüntetésével bemutatta, hogy komoly ellenzéki erő lehet". 444. Retrieved 2019-01-17.
  11. ^ alon.hu. "Választás 2018 – Momentum: 97 helyen adtak le ötszáznál több ajánlást". www.alon.hu. Retrieved 2019-01-17.
  12. ^ "Nemzeti Választási Iroda - Országgyűlési Választás 2022". vtr.valasztas.hu (in Hungarian). Retrieved 2023-05-29.
  13. ^ Zrt, HVG Kiadó (2017-07-18). "Momentum: Ne szavazzunk posztkomcsi utódpártokra!". hvg.hu (in Hungarian). Retrieved 2019-01-17.
  14. ^ Szabolcs, Dull (2017-05-03). "Az ifjú KDNP-sek a meleglobbit sejtik a Momentum elnöke mögött". index.hu (in Hungarian). Retrieved 2019-03-04.
  15. ^ "Momentum – Vízió az öt ügyről". Momentum Mozgalom. Retrieved 2019-03-04.
  16. ^ Tóth, Richárd. "Párttá alakul a Momentum, Fekete-Győr az új elnök" (in Hungarian). Retrieved 2021-10-11.
  17. ^ "Alapszervezeti Térkép". Momentum Mozgalom (in Hungarian). 2019-06-18. Retrieved 2019-06-18.
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