Doctrine
As an ethnic minority party representing Romanian Magyars the UDMR, above all, concerns itself with Hungarian minority rights, including cultural and territorial autonomy on an ethnic basis. To advance its goals, UDMR participated in or supported all the governments of Romania from 1996 on, regardless of their political color. UDMR is a member of the European People's Party (EPP). The purpose of the UDMR is to obtain regional autonomy for ethnic Hungarians, according to its then-leader, Béla Markó, who declared: "The goal of the UDMR is the territorial autonomy which we deserve". In 2006, the leaders of the UDMR voted in favor of territorial autonomy for the Székely Land within Romania, favoring decentralization of the territories in Romania to win more power for local authorities and encourage better distribution of wealth. According to a 2007 statement by Markó, the goal of the UDMR is to "recover the country lost in 1918", including "the houses, the woods, the lands, and the flag".
Various specific goals, gradually detailed during the years, include:
- Free use of mother tongue in private and public life, as well as in administration and justice.
- Development of a native-language school system, with all levels and all types of instruction.
- Ethnic-based local autonomy
UDMR also strongly supports:
- Integration of Romania into European structures.
- Decentralization of administration.
- Consolidation of the market economy.
UDMR is strongly in favor of cultural autonomy, (on an individual basis). UDMR leaders have claimed on several occasions that they believe local autonomy (decentralization) to be the most appropriate and efficient form of self-government. However, UDMR has also stated that it wishes to achieve this goal only through a dialogue and consensus with the Romanian majority, and based on proven Western European models.
UDMR has been criticised on several occasions for its lack of specific doctrine. The main argument for preserving the current structure is that if it split up into smaller fractions of different ideological orientations, it would be impossible for the Hungarian community to obtain more seats in the Parliament (a seat is allotted to each minority group by default) due to the electoral threshold of 5%.
Several voices from within the UDMR and the Hungarian community have criticised it for being too moderate, and making too many compromises in political treaties with other Romanian parties. The Hungarian Civic Alliance split from UDMR, aiming to form a separate, more radical, political entity. However, during the 2004 elections, UDMR proved to still have the support of the overwhelming majority of Hungarians. Disputes with this fraction-group led to the departure of László Tőkés (who was in support of the break-away group) from the position of honorary president.
Read more about this topic: Democratic Union Of Hungarians In Romania
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