People of the Orient Party – Christian Democrats

People of the Orient Party – Christian Democrats Kelet Népe Párt, Kereszténydemokraták
Leader	Frigyes Szent-Tamási
Founded	21 October 1989
Dissolved	3 December 1998
Succeeded by	People of the Orient Alliance – Christian National Defence Force (KNSZ–KNV)
Newspaper	Kelet Népe
Ideology	Christian nationalism Clerical fascism Royalism
Political position	Far-right
Politics of Hungary Political parties Elections

The People of the Orient Party – Christian Democrats (Hungarian: Kelet Népe Párt, Kereszténydemokraták; KNP–KD), also known as simply People of the Orient Party, was a far-right clerical nationalist political party in Hungary.

History

From Conservative liberalism and Christian democracy, the KNP–KD gradually changed its political position to national far-right party. Initially, the party strived for an neutral, independent parliamentary democratic Hungary,^[1] but its position changed by 1998, when under the banner "Faith, Home, Loyalty", the KNP–KD demanded the restoration of the 1000-year-old Kingdom of Hungary.^[1]

The KNP–KD participated the 1990 parliamentary election with only one candidate, who received 0.01 percent of the individual votes.^[2] On 11 March 1993 it became a founding member of the Christian National Unity led by the Independent Smallholders, Agrarian Workers and Civic Party (FKGP). For a short time, the KNP–KD also concluded an alliance with the neo-Nazi Albert Szabó's Party for World-National People’s Supremacy (VNP), but also had a good relationship with the Hungarian Legitimist Party (MLGP) and the Hungarian Freedom Party, which split from the Freedom Party (SZP). The KNP–KD withdrew from contest in the 1994 parliamentary election. The KNP–KD abolished in December 1998 and succeeded by the People of the Orient Alliance – Christian National Defence Force (KNSZ–KNV) which, however, never actually functioned due Szent-Tamási's poor health then death.^[3]

Election results

National Assembly

Election year	National Assembly				Government
	# of overall votes	% of overall vote	# of overall seats won	+/–
1990	346	0.01%	0 / 386		extra-parliamentary

References

1. Vida 2011, p. 365.
2. Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p. 899. ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
3. Vida 2011, p. 366.

Sources

• Vida, István (2011). "Kelet Népe Párt, Kereszténydemokraták (KNP–KD)". Magyarországi politikai pártok lexikona (1846–2010) [Encyclopedia of the Political Parties in Hungary (1846–2010)] (in Hungarian). Gondolat Kiadó. pp. 365–366. ISBN 978-963-693-276-3.