Roma in Hungary - Romani Political Representation

Romani Political Representation

In Hungary, two Roma were elected to parliament as candidates of mainstream parties in 1990, but only one in 1994 and none in 1998. In any case, it has been questioned whether a minority MP who gets into the parliament as a member of a mainstream party can properly represent the interests of his or her minority. During the conference discussions, a Rom from the Czech Republic recounted that his party, the Romani Civic Initiative, instead of participating in the 1998 parliamentary elections on its own, accepted an offer from a majority party, the Union of Freedom, which promised to assist the Roma in the resolution of their problems. One Romani candidate of the Union of Freedom was elected, yet the Romani Civic Union found that it was unable to influence the Union of Freedom’s political program. Following the European elections, 2009, Livia Jaroka is the sole Romani representative of the 22 members of the European parliament from Hungary.