Jobbik

[description taken from the Jobbik's official web page] Jobbik – the Movement for a Better Hungary formed as a party in October, 2003 from the movement of the same name. The creators of the movement were primarily conservative university students and there are still many young among its supporters.

However, it is not a generational organization; nationally and locally known politicians and experts had joined since the beginning.  The crippled state of the conservatives following the unexpected defeat of the 2002 elections played a role in the transformation of Jobbik into a party.  Another was the failure of the entire Hungarian political elite in managing the political and economic transition in the 90's.
The so-called driving parties of governmental restructuring following the communist era stated the task of establishing a social market economy in the very first sentence of the 1989 Amendments to the Constitution.  After nearly two decades, it is obvious that not even a worthwhile attempt had been made to achieve this.  On the contrary, the neoliberal ideology dominated policies during these years under the name of privatization, liberalization and deregulation.  The only difference between these parties was how openly they lined up beneath the flag of these slogans and their ferocity. Economic interests of a small elite dominated over considerations of national economic sovereignty on cases of conflict.  The notion of social service and the common good have faded out of the vocabulary.  Transitions cause shocks and certain groups to lose out, but the level of polarization characterizing Hungarian society today is unacceptable.  The alarming decline of Hungarian population indicates the lack of faith in our future.  

The Jobbik – Movement for a Better Hungary is a principled, conservative and radically patriotic Christian party.  Its fundamental purpose is protecting Hungarian values and interests.  It stands up against the ever more blatant efforts to eradicate the nation as the foundation of human community.  Its strategic program takes into consideration the possibility of the crumbling of globalization as we know it in a chain reaction due to its internal weaknesses and its disconnect from the real processes of the economy.  The party considers the protection, replenishment and expansion of the national resources crucial.  These include the physical and mental condition of the nation, patriotic togetherness and solidarity, knowledge in the more complex meaning, the agricultural land (as an economic force of unmatched potential on a European scale and whose Hungarian ownership is the foundation of our national sovereignty), the supply of drinking water and the infrastructure of transportation, energy and information technology.

Jobbik – Movement for a Better Hungary took in charge as the only party to face one of the underlying problems of Hungarian society, the unsolved situation of the ever growing gypsy population.  It stated –what everyone knows but is silenced by “political correctness”– that phenomenon of “gypsy crime” is real.  It is a unique form of delinquency, different from the crimes of the majority in nature and force.  This recognition and documentation does not imply the collective condemnation of gypsies or racism, of course, since it blames their peculiar socio-cultural background, not genetic pre-determination.  The way to solve this problem is paved by the raising of children to respect social norms, education, vocational training and establishment of jobs. 

At the same time, however, it is also necessary to stiffen punitive sentences, to speed up criminal procedures and to end positive discrimination.  These are fundamental to close the door on the easier life through crime.  Ironically, Jobbik is labeled as extremist for these statements precisely by those, whose extreme neoliberal economic policies caused such a decrease in employment that the new generations of gypsies do not see working for a living a viable option.
In the 2006 parliamentary elections the party reached 2.2%, running together with MIÉP (Hungarian Truth and Life Party) on the MIÉP-Jobbik – A Harmadik Út (The Third Way) ticket.  Four parties reached the 5% threshold, besides them only the Harmadik Út collected over 1% of the votes.  By 2008 the now independent Jobbik – Movement for a Better Hungary was at 7%, according to the polls. Upon the initiation of Jobbik president, the Magyar Gárda Kulturális Egyesület (Cultural Association of the Hungarian Guard) was formed in August, 2007.  Along with the movement by the same name, the Guard is a potential framework to awaken the active self consciousness of the nation.  This initiative simultaneously evoked the sympathy of a considerable segment of society –backed by the great number of sworn-in members in uniform– and the fierce slander campaign of the left-of-center media and the motion of the socio-liberal administration to ban the organization. It is the conviction of Jobbik – Movement for a Better Hungary, that our joining the European Union does not provide a solution.  We accepted disadvantageous competitive conditions and gave up national autonomy in crucial areas in favour to an anti-democratic, bureaucratic, central authority.  This rendered the country defenseless and in duress.  Jobbik rejects the Lisbon treaty accepted by each party in the Hungarian Parliament and renounces the cynical tactics of the political elite to force the EU Constitution upon the peoples of Europe, despite it failing to ratify in France and the Netherlands.

At the 2009 European parliamentary elections, Jobbik won 3 seats with 15% of the votes and in doing so came close to beating the ruling Hungarian Socialists into third place.

Hungary's 2010 parliamentary elections saw Jobbik cement its posititon as the nation's 3rd largest party, doubling the vote it had received in the previous year and getting just 3 seats short of the previous ruling party. Jobbik reached nearly 18% of the votes and delegated 47 deputies into the Hungarian Parliament.