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Kim, Dae Soon (2011) A political biography of Hungary's first post- Communist President, Árpád Göncz. PhD thesis http://theses.gla.ac.uk/2578/ Copyright and moral rights for this thesis are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Glasgow Theses Service http://theses.gla.ac.uk/ [email protected] A political biography of Hungary’s First Post- Communist President, Árpád Göncz Dae Soon Kim Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Central and East European Studies School of Social and Political Sciences College of Social Sciences University of Glasgow January 2011 Word count: 102, 605 words (including notes, excluding bibliography) Abstract Hungary’s political transformation of 1989 has been generally regarded as a peaceful revolution negotiated between the ruling Communists and the opposition. During the National Roundtable Negotiations, the fundamental framework of governance - including the amendment of the Constitution - was decided by members of Hungary’s political elite. Hungary’s mode of transition to democracy was an elite-led transformation and this was distinct from Czechoslovakia and Poland where the interests of society had been represented – to a large degree – by the likes of Vaclav Havel and Lech Walesa. In view of this, some critics argued that compared to Poland and Czechoslovakia, Hungary had no equivalent high-profile figure who could break with the Communist past and claim the ideas of a new democracy. Hungary, however, had its own figure with democratic credentials. Árpád Göncz, who came to prominence during the inter-war period had been at one time or another, a student resistance leader during Nazi occupation in Hungary, a steelworker, an agriculturalist, a literary translator and, he subsequently became the first post-Communist President of Hungary. He experienced the major events of Hungarian history first hand, including the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. During this pivotal time, Göncz undertook a significant role in the resistance that followed the suppresion of the Revolution; he was sentenced to life imprisonment as a result. His democratic activities were widely acknowledged by political elites and the general public alike. This, in turn, contributed to his election to the Presidency. Significantly however, much of the existing literature on Hungary’s post-Soviet political development has not attached a high degree of importance to Göncz’s role in Hungarian history or his political achievements. At present, there are no biographies of Göncz either in English or Hungarian. Thus this thesis, as the first English language scholarly biography, addresses a gap in the literature through the narration of the story of Göncz’s life; an expansive account of Göncz’s life is situated within a framework of the wider historical, political and social concerns of his generation. Specifically, the following questions are addressed: how were Göncz’s political beliefs developed and how did these beliefs later inform his term as the first post-Communist President of Hungary? Narrative analysis and elite interviewing are employed as the main research methods in order to explore the development of Göncz’s political beliefs and their significance for the understanding of Hungarian politics. It is argued that as a whole, Göncz made important contributions to the development of Hungarian democracy. Though not born into a political family and constrained by external forces beyond his control, Göncz attempted to address some of the key social and political problems of the age. It is also argued that the decade of Göncz’s Presidency was crucial for the shaping of the basic institutional tenets of governance in post-Soviet Hungary. Despite his lack of experience of governance, Göncz created a template for the role of President and significantly affected the demarcation of powers between president and government in the ever-evolving context of the process of political transformation. While his interpretation of the presidential powers and responsibility was not, and could not be regarded as positive in all respects, Göncz’s Presidency was imbued by his liberal and democratic values. Acknowledgements As a non-native English and Hungarian speaker, working on my doctoral thesis has been one of the greatest challenges I have ever undertaken. There were numerous times I questioned why I was doing this research and in fact, sometimes I was sceptical about my chance of completion of study. It was felt like I was on a lonely journey to enter a long and dark tunnel and its end seemed far from clear. Yet as a novel leads inevitably to its end, my journey came to an end and it was never completely done alone. My first thanks must go to my supervisors, Prof. Terry Cox and Dr. Clare McManus. They have consistently provided constructive comments and critical feedbacks on my thesis and acted as a safeguard to my research. I am deeply grateful for their sincerity and kindness. My special thanks go to Prof. Stephen White. His encouragement and support for my research was one of the main impetuses to complete my research. I am also obliged to thank Dr. Zsuzsánna Varga, who kindly provided me with Hungarian language support. I would also like to thank all my respondents who kindly accepted my interview requests during my field work in Budapest. My special thanks go to the former President of Hungary Árpád Göncz and his wife Zsuzsánna Göntér, who kindly accepted my interview requests and acted as one of the gatekeepers for securing my subsequent interviews. My thanks also go to Katalin Szánthó, a Secretary of the 1956 Institute. She provided me with mental support during my field work and played a role of my parents at times. I will not never forget her kindness and decency. I have been fortunate to get to know genuine and lovely friends and make a durable friendship in Glasgow. Jeffrey Richard Meadowcroft, Sophie Mamattah, Rebecca Jane Reynold, Ada-Charlotte Regelmann, David Green, Colin Vernall, Elizabeth Dunlop, Agnieszka Katarzyna Uflewska-Watson, Timofey Agarin and Muhammed Kaleem, all of whom have consistently encouraged me to continue my research. They acted as a vigorous debating partners for my research. I am sincerely grateful for their kindness and solidarity. Finally, the completion of this thesis would not have been possible without supports and love from my parents and younger brother. Although they have never understood why I became interested in Hungarian studies, they showed consistent support and sympathy with my research. I am truly grateful for their endless love and I dedicate this thesis to them. Table of Contents List of acronyms Introduction 1 Designing research: The main framework of research, its questions and methods 4 Text-based data 6 Narrative analysis 7 Elite interviewing 8 Ethical considerations 10 The overview of the thesis 10 Part I: Development of Göncz’s political views Chapter 1. Beginnings 14 Introduction 14 1.1. The early years 16 1.2. The Pál Teleki Work Group 19 1.3. Resistance: the Freedom Front of Hungarian Students 23 1.4. Peasant populism 27 1.5. The Independent Smallholders’ Party 31 Chapter 2. The 1956 Hungarian Revolution 40 Introduction 40 2.1. The Pet őfi Circle 42 2.2. Chronology of the key events of the 1956 Revolution 44 2.3. Rearguard struggle: liaison between István Bibó, India and the West 45 2.4. Trial, imprisonment, hunger strike and translation bureau 54 Chapter 3. Dissidence in the 1980s 70 Introduction 70 3.1. Political and social changes in the second half of the 1980s 71 3.2. The Network of Free Initiatives and the Alliance of Free Democrats 73 3.3. The Committee for Historical Justice 79 Part II: The post-Communist Presidency 89 Chapter 4. Development of the post-Communist Presidency in Hungary Introduction 90 4.1. The National Roundtable Negotiation where there began a new 'political game in town' 91 4.2. Designing an institutional system: the Presidency 92 4.2.1. Bargaining over the Presidency 92 4.2.2. 'Four Yes-es' referendum 95 4.2.3. The Pact 97 The puzzle of the AFD 98 The pact: a power-sharing scheme or the origin of confrontation? 100 Göncz’s selection for the Presidency 102 4.3. The constitutional powers of the Hungarian President 106 Chapter 5. The first Presidency (1990-1995) 112 Introduction 112 5.1. The Antall government 114 5.2. Göncz’s first presidential term: liberal and democratic values versus partisanship 116 5.2.1. The Taxi-drivers’ strike 116 5.2.2. The Visegrád Summit 120 5.2.3. Dealing with the Communist past 123 5.2.3.1. The Law of Compensation 124 5.2.3.2. The Law on Justice 128 5.2.4. The Law on Arable Land 136 5.2.5. Control over the broadcast media 140 5.2.6. The Law of Radio Frequency Management 154 5.2.7. The La Stampa Affair 157 5.2.8. Göncz’s interrupted speech 160 Chapter 6. The second Presidency (1995-2000) 165 Introduction 165 6.1. Government in transition: the Horn and Orbán governments 167 6.2. The pursuit of liberal and democratic values: the principle of equality and consensus- based decision making 173 6.2.1. Dealing with the economic stabilisation programme 173 6.2.2. The Law on Incompatibility 178 6.2.3.