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Hungarian Two-Tailed Dog Party

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The Hungarian Two-Tailed Dog Party (Hungarian: Magyar Kétfarkú Kutya Párt, pronounced [ˈmɒɟɒr ˈkeːtfɒrkuː ˈkucɒ ˈpaːrt]; MKKP [ˈɛmkaːkaːpeː]) is a political party in Hungary. It was founded in Szeged in 2006, but did not register as an official political party until 2014. The party's main activity is street art, consisting of graffiti, stencils, and posters which parody Hungary's political elite.[6]

Hungarian Two-Tailed Dog Party
Magyar Kétfarkú Kutya Párt
AbbreviationMKKP
LeaderGergely Kovács[1]
FoundedJanuary 2006
Registered8 September 2014
Headquarters1076 Budapest, Garay tér 10.
Ideology
European affiliationEuropean Pirate Party (observer)[5]
Slogan
  • "The only sensible choice"
  • (Az egyetlen értelmes választás)
National Assembly
0 / 199
European Parliament
0 / 21
County Assemblies
2 / 381
General Assembly of Budapest
3 / 33
Website
ketfarkukutya.mkkp.party

Because the party participated in the 2018 Hungarian legislative election, it is eligible to receive government funds, which it spends on the "Rózsa Sándor State Fund Wasting Public Program".[7]

Political activity

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Foundation, 2006 and 2010 elections

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All of the electoral candidates were called Nagy István ("Stephen Big", Hungarian equivalent of the English John Smith) during the 2006 national and local elections.[8]

 
An example of Two-tailed Dog Party fake political posters: this poster is captioned "For a smaller Hungary!", in reference to Hungarian irredentists' demands for the revocation of the Treaty of Trianon; the "proposed" borders of Hungary are those of the pre-war Kingdom of Hungary, albeit (nonsensically) reduced to fit within Hungary's current frontiers.

The Two-Tailed Dog Party was not a registered political party until 2014, though it participated in the 2006 elections. The party platform promises eternal life, world peace, a one-day workweek, two sunsets a day (in assorted colours), lower gravity, free beer, and low taxes.[9] Other electoral pledges have included building a mountain on the Great Hungarian Plain. Party election posters were mostly in Szeged and featuring the candidate István Nagy, who is a two-tailed dog, with slogans such as "He's so cute, surely he isn't going to steal".

 
Dániel Mogács in 2008

The party is on good terms with another joke party, the Fourth Way, which is led by two birds. However, there are some disagreements between them, since Fourth Way plans to abolish bird flu, which is opposed by the Two-tailed Dog Party on the principle of viral rights. On 20 June 2009, the MKKP held a "general" protest with approximately three hundred participants in front of the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH) to demand "Tomorrow should be yesterday!", "Look stupid!" and "Disband!" etc., with a chant of "What do we want? Nothing! When do we want it? Never!".[10]

In 2010, the party announced their candidacy for mayor of Budapest with the main slogan "Let everything be better!".[11] Campaign slogans include "More everything, less nothing!", "Eternal life, free beer, tax-deduction!" and "We promise anything!".[12] In Erzsébetváros (District VII, Budapest), the mayoral candidate of the party was notable stand-up comedian Dániel Mogács, who has carried out a number of awareness-generating actions during the campaign period, including a surreal interview with television host Olga Kálmán (ATV's Straight Talk).[13] However, neither candidate was able to collect the appropriate number of recommendation slips to participate in the election.[14] According to its detailed economic program, MKKP intended to develop Szeged space station into an interplanetary spaceport, which would be used for Pulis' export to Jamaica. The program also contained environmental elements, such as patching the ozone hole, and creation of new species to replace extinct species. The party also proposed establishing trade relations with extraterrestrial life forms, and opening a Hungarian restaurant on Mars to improve the country's image.[15]

2014–2018 elections

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See also: 2014 Hungarian parliamentary election
 
MKKP & Vastagbőr's billboard in 2015 during the migrant crisis, which also regard the government's stance on Sunday trading clampdown laws as retrograde

The party spent most of 2013 trying to finish the official registration process, which new election law made compulsory, so it could start its campaign.[16] The registration was rejected in early 2014 on the grounds of the party's "flippancy".[1] In July 2014, the Supreme Court ruled that this was not a valid reason to reject the party, and the registration process should continue.[17] The MKKP was officially registered on 8 September 2014, only 16 minutes before the deadline for nomination of candidates for the 2014 local elections, so the party was unable to participate in the election.[18]

In June 2015, the ruling Third Orbán Government launched an anti-immigrant poster campaign during the intensifying European migrant crisis, with slogans such as "If you come to Hungary, you cannot take the Hungarians' jobs away!".[19] In response, the Two-tailed Dog Party and the Vastagbőr blog ("Thick Skin") jointly called for an "anti-anti-immigration campaign", and collected more than 33 million HUF (ten times the expected amount) from supporters[20] to set up around 800 billboards parodying those of the government, with slogans in Hungarian and English such as "Sorry about our Prime Minister" and "Feel free to come to Hungary, we already work in England!".[21]

On 4 February 2016, Medián's poll for the first time registered support for the Hungarian Two-tailed Dog Party, with 1% of the population expressing support.[22]

The Hungarian Two-tailed Dog Party was closely involved in the campaign during the October 2016 migrant quota referendum, mocking the government's anti-immigrant messages and phrases. In response to government posters which read "Did you know?" followed by claimed facts about immigration, the party spent €100,000 of voluntary donations from 4,000 people on posters with satirical slogans, such as "Did you know there's a war in Syria?", "Did you know one million Hungarians want to emigrate to Europe?", "Did you know? The perpetrators in most corruption cases are politicians" and "Did you know? During the Olympics, the biggest danger to Hungarian participants came from foreign competitors". Party leader Gergely Kovács told BBC News that "... What we can do is appeal to the millions in Hungary who are upset by the government campaign. We want them to know they are not alone". The party asked people to cast invalid ballots in the referendum.[23] Eventually, 6% of the voters cast a spoiled ballot.[24]

Shortly before the referendum, the party made a mobile app available for download on its website. The app, called "Vote Invalidly", could be used to take a photo of the spoilt votes and publish it. MKKP received a fine of 832,000 Hungarian forints for releasing the app, because publishing a ballot paper is illegal (even though the app published them anonymously).[25] The fine was later reduced to 100,000 Hungarian forints by the decision of the Curia, based on the argument that publishing ballot papers anonymously did not violate the secrecy of the voting, although it was a misuse of the ballot papers.[26]

Elections 2018–present

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The party officially took part in the 2018 parliamentary elections and got 1.73% of the total vote, but no seats.

The party participated in the 2019 European Parliament election. Despite an increase to 2.62% of the votes, it did not win a seat. Its campaign promises included building an overpass above the country for refugees, opening six Nemzeti Dohánybolt stores outside Hungary, introducing mandatory siesta and banning the Eurovision Song Contest.[27]

In the 2019 local elections the party ran in four districts of Budapest (II., XII., XIV., XV.) where they had elected one council member each.[28] They also formally or informally supported a handful of mayoral candidates, most notably in Ferencváros and Szombathely. After the election, newly elected Ferencváros mayor Krisztina Baranyi appointed MKKP member Zsuzsanna Döme as one of her deputy mayors.[29]

The party officially took part in the 2022 parliamentary elections and increased their vote share to 3.27% of the total vote, making them the fourth largest political block, but gained no seats because of the 5% threshold.

The party is expected to participate in the 2024 European parliament election and the simultaneously held 2024 local elections. In District 12 of Budapest, party leader Gergely Kovács won 61% of the first preference votes in a ranked-choice opposition primary, the first the party has joined. Other main opposition parties are now expected not to field a candidate for mayor and half of the district seats for councilors are to be nominated exclusively by the Two-Tailed Dog Party, plus 2 seats. Kovács won the mayorship with 54% of the votes, and the party won 10 out of the 18 seats in the district council.[30]

Street art

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Street art illustrating the four color theorem in Budapest

The party has been a strong advocate of freedom of expression and artistic license. This position is expressed by political slogans on walls and pasting posters in Szeged.

The party's main activity is street art: graffiti, stencils, and various posters. These are often humorous critiques of company policies,[31] the state of Hungarian railroads,[32] common advertisements,[33] and so forth. There have also been attempts to sabotage large billboard signs[34] or provide simple meta-humour.[35] A party leader was sued by the Hungarian State Railways over stickers saying "Our trains are deliberately dirty" and "Our trains are deliberately late", but the courts ruled in his favor. In 2009 he created a parody of the website Pecs2010.hu (the official site of Pécs as Cultural Capital of Europe in 2010), for which he was threatened with legal action, but the owners of the original site backed down after the case got publicity.[36]

Election results

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National Assembly

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Election Leader Constituency Party list Seats +/– Status
Votes % Votes %
2018 Gergely Kovács 39,763 0.72 (#8) 99,414 1.73 (#7)
0 / 199
 New Extra-parliamentary
2022 126,648 2.36 (#4) 185,052 3.27 (#4)
0 / 199
   0 Extra-parliamentary

European Parliament

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Election List leader Votes % Seats +/− EP Group
2019 Zsuzsanna Döme 90,912 2.62 (#7)
0 / 21
 New —
2024 Marietta Le 163,960 3.59 (#6)
0 / 21
   0 —

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Nem lehet Magyar Kétfarkú Kutya Párt a nevünk" (in Hungarian). 24 June 2013.
  2. ^ Pope Fischer, Lisa (12 September 2016). "Afterword: Re-interpretation of Societal Change: "I am not political"". Symbolic Traces of Communist Legacy in Post-Socialist Hungary: Experiences of a Generation that Lived During the Socialist Era. Central and Eastern Europe: Regional Perspectives in Global Context. Vol. 7. Leiden: Brill. doi:10.1163/9789004328648. ISBN 978-90-04-32864-8. ISSN 1877-8550. LCCN 2016032806. p. 187: A political satirist group called the Kétfarkú Kutya Párt (Two-Tailed Dog Party) put up a thousand posters, some in English like the statement above, and others in Hungarian.
  3. ^ László, Róbert; Demény, Richárd (1 June 2024). "A newcomer against the Orbán regime". Focus on Hungary. Heinrich Böll Foundation. Prague. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  4. ^ "The European Pirate Party has new leadership and observers". European Pirate Party. 24 January 2022. Retrieved 13 April 2024.
  5. ^ "The European Pirate Party has new leadership and observers". European Pirate Party. 24 January 2022. Retrieved 13 April 2024.
  6. ^ "Ilyen az, amikor nem viccel a Kutyapárt" (in Hungarian). 7 October 2020.
  7. ^ ketfarkukutya (22 April 2019). "The Two Tailed Dog Party". Kétfarkú Kutya Párt (in Hungarian). Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  8. ^ "Örök életet ígér a Kétfarkú Kutya Párt". Origo.hu. 6 February 2006. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  9. ^ ketfarkukutya (22 April 2019). "Political programme". Kétfarkú Kutya Párt (in Hungarian). Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  10. ^ "A semmit követelte röhögve a tüntető tömeg". Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  11. ^ "Budapest Mayoral Candidates Must Try Harder - Xpatloop.com - Expat Life In Budapest, Hungary - Current affairs". xpatloop.com. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  12. ^ "Letölthető, nyomtatható anyagok". Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  13. ^ "Gangos házakat ígér anyjának a 7.kerületi polgármester-jelölt + videó". ATV.hu. 28 August 2010. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  14. ^ "A Kétfarkú Kutya Kulturális Közhasznú Egyesület adatai a 2010-es önkormányzati választás oldalán". Országos Választási Iroda. 29 November 2010. Archived from the original on 4 December 2015. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  15. ^ "A Magyar Kétfarkú Kutya Párt választási programja. 2010". mkkp.hu. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  16. ^ Margit Feher (27 February 2014). "Hungary's 2-Tailed Dog Party Seeks Ballot Space". Wall Street Journal.
  17. ^ "Kúria: be kell jegyezni a Magyar Kétfarkú Kutya Pártot" (in Hungarian). Archived from the original on 25 June 2014. Retrieved 29 June 2014.
  18. ^ "Rossz viccnek tűnik, ahogy bejegyezték a Kétfarkú Kutya Pártot". Origo.hu. 8 September 2014. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  19. ^ Német, Tamás (4 June 2015). "Megvan a kormány menekültellenes kampányának két újabb szlogenje". Index. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  20. ^ "Újabb plakátokat készít a Kétfarkú Kutyapárt és a Vastagbőr". 444.hu. 14 July 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  21. ^ "'Come to Hungary - we're already working in London' says pro-immigration billboard campaign". Telegraph.co.uk. 17 June 2015. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  22. ^ "Sajátosan reagálta le a Kétfarkú Kutyapárt, hogy a Medián már méri őket". Heti Világgazdaság. 4 February 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  23. ^ "Hungary poster campaign pokes fun at migrant referendum". BBC News. 10 September 2016. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  24. ^ "Hungary's Referendum On Refugee Resettlement Is Overwhelming — But Invalid". npr.org. 3 October 2016. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
  25. ^ "Jobbikos javaslatra 832 ezer forintra büntette az NVB a Kétfarkú Kutyákat". index.hu. 7 October 2016. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  26. ^ "Megúszta a gigabírságot a Kétfarkú Kutya". index.hu. 18 October 2016. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  27. ^ ketfarkukutya (22 April 2019). "Political programme". Kétfarkú Kutya Párt. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  28. ^ Négy önkormányzatban is képviselője lesz a Kutyapártnak, hvg.hu (in Hungarian)
  29. ^ "Party promoting free beer may have deputy mayor in Budapest". 13 November 2019.
  30. ^ "Nemzeti Választási Iroda - Helyi önkormányzati választások". Retrieved 13 June 2024.
  31. ^ "Untitled Document". mkkp.hu. Archived from the original on 13 July 2015. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  32. ^ ""Our trains are deliberately dirty."". Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  33. ^ "Untitled Document". www.mkkp.hu. Archived from the original on 20 February 2012. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  34. ^ "Kétfarkú Kutya Anyaszentegyház Kft". www.mkkp.hu. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  35. ^ "Untitled Document". mkkp.hu. Archived from the original on 20 February 2012. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
  36. ^ "Lenyomta a Magyar Kétfarkú Kutya Párt a Pécs2010-et". Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2017.
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