Hungarian National Assembly

The Republic of Hungary is an independent, democratic and constitutional state. Since the constitutional amendment of October 23, 1989 the Hungarian state is a republic, and the type of regime is parliamentary democracy. The government is responsible to the National Assembly and derives its powers from the majority of voters. Legislative power is exercised by the unicameral National Assembly consisting of 386 members. Members of the National Assembly are elected for four years.

The seat of the National Assembly is in Budapest along the Danube in the building of the Parliament constructed in 1902. The building is rightly regarded among the most beautiful parliament buildings of the world, a fact underpinned by hundreds of thousands of visitors a year. However, important legislative work is carried out within the walls of the parliament. Therefore, beyond admiring the beauty of the building, it is worth gaining insight into the work of the House as the decisions taken and the laws passed here determine everyday life of Hungarian society.

Election of the members of Parliament

The Hungarian electoral system (a so-called combined system) is one of the most complex systems in Europe. It seems however, that voters captured the essence of the system and applied it successfully during the past five general elections since 1990. There are 386 MPs elected to the National Assembly by direct, secret ballot based on universal and equal right of votes of the citizens every four years.

During elections every citizen receives two ballot-papers. A separate ballot-paper serves voting on single mandate constituency candidates and another one voting on regional lists. Candidates on the national list are not voted on directly by citizens. Here, division of mandates is calculated on the basis of a complicated compensation method. While the number of single constituency MPs is always 176, the number of MPs from the regional and the national list vary election to election, however, the total number always adds up to 210.
More info on the Hungarian National Assembly

eRepresentative is a project co-financed under the 6th Framework Programme of the European Union