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Hungary Central Institutions
Central party institutions made decisions binding on
the
party as a whole. In addition, they made policy for every
aspect
of the country's domestic and foreign policies. Hungary's
central
party institutions, like those of other Marxist-Leninist
parties
of Eastern Europe, were modeled on those of the CPSU.
Party Congress
According to the Party Rules, the congress was the
"highest
organ of the HSWP." The congress had the following powers:
it
debated reports of the Central Committee and the Central
Control
Committee, approved the Party Rules, elected the Central
Control
Committee and the Central Committee, determined the
general
guidelines of party policy, and determined the most
immediate and
important tasks of socialist construction. The Central
Committee
convened a party congress once every five years.
In fact, the party congress usually legitimated
policies
decided upon elsewhere. The Politburo gave its prior
approval to
officials elected by the party congress. The congress
merely
ratified solutions to political, social, and economic
problems
that had been developed by the Secretariat and approved by
the
Politburo. Thus, party congresses had mainly a
propagandistic
character.
The agendas of all party congresses in the postwar
period
have been similar. The general secretary reads the report
of the
Central Committee. Debates and approval of the report
follow.
Speeches are read by leaders of foreign communist party
delegations, with the representative of the CPSU going
first. The
congress also adopts reports of other party organs as well
as a
party program. Finally, the congress "elects" the Central
Committee, the Secretariat, and the Central Control
Committee.
The Thirteenth Party Congress, held March 25-29, 1985,
made
no important changes in HSWP policies, continuing the
general
policy line of the 1960s and 1970s. In contrast to earlier
party
congresses, however, greater degrees of candor and open
criticism
characterized the Thirteenth Party Congress. Social
problems
discussed included the declining birth rate, the poor
quality of
health services, and the inequalities created by economic
reform.
The Thirteenth Party Congress had 935 delegates, or
about 1
for every 1,000 party members. The social composition of
the
delegates mirrored the social composition of the party as
a whole
(see Social Composition of the Party
, this ch.). Workers
and
peasants made up approximately 30 percent of the
delegates.
Functionaries in party and social organizations made up
23.1
percent of the delegates, leading executives and
administrators
24.9 percent, and employees 8.4 percent. Women comprised
about 27
percent of the delegates.
The Central Committee also had the power to convene a
party
conference at any time during the interval between
congresses.
The party held its first conference in May 1945 and its
second in
June 1957. In May 1988, the HSWP leadership convened the
Third
Party Conference.
The Third Party Conference had 1 delegate for every
1,000
party members, or a total of 859 delegates. In addition,
the 106
Central Committee members and 25 members of the Central
Control
Committee also had the right to vote. The conference had
powers
similar to a party congress. It approved new directions in
economic and social policy, and it ratified important
personnel
changes in the leadership. Grosz succeeded Kadar as
general
secretary, and the conference created for Kadar the new,
largely
honorific position of chairman of the party. In addition,
liberal
reformers Rezsö Nyers and Imre Pozsgay became Politburo
members.
Data as of September 1989
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