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that the party had 'lied morning, evening and night' about the state of the economy since
coming to power and now had to make amends. Gyurcsány refused to resign, and public
outrage led to a series of demonstrations near the Parliament building in Budapest, culmin-
ating in widespread rioting that marred the 50th anniversary of the 1956 Uprising.
Since then, demonstrations - sometimes violent - have become a regular feature in Bud-
apest, especially during national holidays. The radical right-wing nationalist party Jobbik
Magyarországért Mozgalom (Movement for a Better Hungary), better known as just Jobbik,
and its uniformed militia arm, Magyar Gárda (Hungarian Guard), have been at the centre of
many of these demonstrations and riots.
Gyurcsány led a feeble minority government until general elections in 2010, when
Fidesz-MPP won a majority of 52% in the first round of voting and joined forces with the
Christian Democratic People's Party (KDNP) to rule with a two-thirds majority (263 of 386
seats).
Hungary assumed presidency of the EU Council in the first half of 2011. A new constitu-
tion that went into effect at the start of 2012 contained an extended preamble (the so-called
National Creed) that declares the period from March 1944 (Nazi occupation of Hungary) to
May 1990 (first free election since 1945) to be legally nonexistent.
In the April 2014 national elections, the first since constitutional changes reduced voting
to a single poll and the number of MPs from 386 to 199, Fidesz took almost 45% of the vote
and 133 seats, returning Orbán to the premiership. Next up were Unity, a short-lived coali-
tion of MSZP and four other parties, which took 26% of the vote and 38 seats. Orbán was
clearly at the helm once again.
The extreme right-wing nationalist party Jobbik Magyarországért Mozgalom (Movement
for a Better Hungary) won just under 17% of the vote nationwide in 2014 and currently
holds 23 seats (more than 20% of the total) in parliament.
 
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