A new political party called the Hungarian Civic Party will be included in the official list of Romanian parties following a decision by the Bucharest Court on Monday, reports daily Magyar Hírlap. The decision is not yet final, as the prosecutor’s office and the Party of Democratic Solidarity have five days to appeal. The latter has appealed against the registration of every new party in the past.
The prosecutor asked for the registration application to be rejected, because the full name of the party, Partidul Civic Maghiar – Magyar Polgári Párt, includes Hungarian, and the country’s constitution says the country’s official language is Romanian. The attorney of the Hungarian group said, however, that ethnic minorities are entitled to basic freedoms according to the European Convention of Freedom Rights, without suffering discrimination based on language or ethnicity. If the Hungarian Civic Party is registered, it will be the first Romanian party with Hungarian in its official title.
This is the second time the party has applied for registration. In June 2004, the validity of its 54,000 supporting signatures was questioned and its application rejected.
The largest Hungarian party in Romania, the Democratic Union of Hungarians in Romania (RMDSZ), said that it will be difficult to co-operate with a party that wishes to provide an alternative to the RMDSZ.
Another Hungarian party registered in Romania, the Independent Hungarian Party, was founded in 1990, and has run in three elections, although under a different name.
