Politics Can Be Different
Encyclopedia
Politics Can Be Different , abbreviated to LMP, is a Hungarian
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

 green liberal
Green liberalism
Green liberalism is a term used to refer to liberals who have incorporated green concerns into their ideology.- Philosophy :Green liberalism values the Earth very highly, and this philosophy highly values the planet being passed down to the next generation unharmed...

 political party
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...

. Founded in 2009, it was one of four parties to win seats in the National Assembly
National Assembly of Hungary
The National Assembly or Diet is the parliament of Hungary. The unicameral body consists of 386 members elected to 4-year terms. Election of members is based on a complex system involving both area and list election; parties must win at least 5% of the popular vote in order to enter list members...

 in the 2010 parliamentary election
Hungarian parliamentary election, 2010
A parliamentary election was held in Hungary on 11 and 25 April 2010 to choose MPs for the National Assembly. They were the sixth free elections since the end of communist era. The 386 members of parliament were elected in a combined system of party lists and electoral constituencies...

.

History

The party was preceded by a non-governmental organization
Non-governmental organization
A non-governmental organization is a legally constituted organization created by natural or legal persons that operates independently from any government. The term originated from the United Nations , and is normally used to refer to organizations that do not form part of the government and are...

 social initiative founded in 2008, with the purpose of reforming Hungarian politics
Politics of Hungary
Politics of Hungary takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic. The Prime Minister is the head of government of a pluriform multi-party system, while the President is the head of state and holds a largely ceremonial position.Executive power is exercised by the...

. LMP shares common ideologies with most green parties. Key issues are environmental protection, sustainable development
Sustainable development
Sustainable development is a pattern of resource use, that aims to meet human needs while preserving the environment so that these needs can be met not only in the present, but also for generations to come...

 and the fight against corruption
Political corruption
Political corruption is the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by...

 in the current political elite. LMP highlights what they see as the pointlessness of the current partisan division between the left and right-wing forces, and their principle is deliberative democracy
Deliberative democracy
Deliberative democracy is a form of democracy in which public deliberation is central to legitimate lawmaking. It adopts elements of both consensus decision-making and majority rule. Deliberative democracy differs from traditional democratic theory in that authentic deliberation, not mere...

, which they believe decreases the distance between the people and the political elite.

The public face of the organization is András Schiffer
András Schiffer
András Schiffer is a Hungarian politician, leader of the Politics Can Be Different parliamentary group.He received his Juris Doctor degree at the Eötvös Loránd University in 1995...

, former member of the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union
Hungarian Civil Liberties Union
Since its inception in 1994, the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union is a leading non-governmental organization in the field of human rights and harm reduction advocacy in Hungary...

 (HCLU) and Védegylet, Benedek Jávor
Benedek Jávor
Benedek Jávor is a Hungarian biologist, environmentalist and politician, a leading member of the Politics Can Be Different party....

, university professor in environmental law and a founder of Védegylet, and Tímea Szabó, humanitarian worker, heading the list presented for the European Parliamentary Elections. LMP received the official endorsement of the European Green Party.

The party garnered 75,522 votes, (or 2.61% of the total votes) at the first elections it participated in, the 2009 European Parliament elections
European Parliament election, 2009 (Hungary)
The European Parliament election of 2009 in Hungary was the election of the delegation from Hungary to the European Parliament in 2009. Hungary delegated 22 members to the European Parliament based on the Nice treaty and the election took place on the 7th of June.-Candidates:Among the candidates...

, which was less than the 5% needed to gain a seat for the 2009-2014 cycle, though beating the 2.16% received by one of the parties already in the national parliament.
In the 2010 parliamentary elections
Hungarian parliamentary election, 2010
A parliamentary election was held in Hungary on 11 and 25 April 2010 to choose MPs for the National Assembly. They were the sixth free elections since the end of communist era. The 386 members of parliament were elected in a combined system of party lists and electoral constituencies...

, the party achieved 7.48% in the first electoral round, thereby clearing the 5 percent electoral threshold, gaining 16 seats in the parliament, though it did not obtain any direct-representational seats. In the local elections of 2010 October 3, LMP gained 54 seats in local city councils, with at least one representative in most of the district councils of the capital, 3 seats in the central council of Budapest, as well as in a few other cities around the country.

External links

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