2008 Hungarian fees abolition referendum

Nation-wide three-question referendum

You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Hungarian.  (November 2022) Click [show] for important translation instructions.

*   * Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia.
* Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article.
* You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is `Content in this edit is translated from the existing Hungarian Wikipedia article at [[:hu:2008-as magyarországi népszavazás]]; see its history for attribution.`
* You may also add the template `{{Translated|hu|2008-as magyarországi népszavazás}}` to the talk page.
* For more guidance, see Wikipedia:Translation.

|

Fidesz posters at Hungarian fees abolishment referendum, 2008.

Politics of Hungary

Constitution

* 1949 Constitution
* Constitutional Court

Executive

* President (list)

Tamás Sulyok
* Government

Current cabinet
Prime Minister (list)

Viktor Orbán

Parliament

* National Assembly

Speaker: László Kövér
* Political parties

Fidesz

Christian Democratic People's
Party (KDNP)

Jobbik
Politics Can Be Different (LMP)
Dialogue for Hungary (PM)
Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP)
Democratic Coalition (DK)
Momentum Movement (M)
Everybody's Hungary Movement (MMM)
Our Homeland Movement (MH)

Recent elections

*     * Parliamentary: 2018
* 2022
* 2026

*     * Presidential: 2017
* 2022
* 2024

*     * Local: 2014
* 2019
* 2024

*     * European: 2014
* 2019
* 2024

Budapest

|  Mayor of Budapest

Gergely Karácsony
Mayoral elections

1994
1998
2002
2006
2010
2014
2019
2024

Administrative divisions

* Districts
* Counties
* Regions
* Subregions

Foreign relations

* Austria–Hungary relations
* China–Hungary relations
* France–Hungary relations
* Germany–Hungary relations
* Hungary–Italy relations
* Hungary–Russia relations
* Hungary–United Kingdom relations
* Hungary–United States relations

* * *

* Timeline of Hungary–European Union relations
* Politics of the European Union

* Hungary portal

* Other countries

* v
* t
* e

A referendum on revoking some medical and tuition fees was held in Hungary on 9 March 2008.[1] The proposals would cancel government reforms which introduced doctor visit fees paid per visitation and medical fees paid per number of days spent in hospital as well as tuition fees in higher education. All three were supported by a majority of voters.[2] Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány stated that the fees would be abolished on 1 April 2008 following the referendum, but that the government had no funds available to replace the income lost for the higher educations institutions and health institutions due to the abolishment of the fees.

## Background

[edit]

The referendum was initiated by opposition party Fidesz against the ruling Hungarian Socialist Party (MSZP). The procedure for the referendum started on 23 October 2006, when Viktor Orbán, the leader of Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Union announced they would hand in seven questions to the National Electorate Office, three of which (on abolishing co-payments, daily fees and college tuition fees) were officially approved on 17 December 2007 and called on 24 January 2008. It was assumed likely that the referendum would pass, but it was uncertain whether turnout would be high enough to make it valid;[3] polls indicated about 40% turnout with 80% in favour of rescinding the three reforms.[4]

To be valid, the referendum required at least 25% of the about 8 million eligible voters to vote in favour of one of the options.

## Questions

[edit]

Hungarian text  | English translation

|

Egyetért-e Ön azzal, hogy a fekvőbeteg-gyógyintézeti ellátásért a jelen kérdésben megtartott népszavazást követő év január 1-jétől ne kelljen kórházi napidíjat fizetni?  | Do you agree that inpatient care should be exempt from daily hospital fees with effect from 1 January in the year after the referendum is held on the present issue?[2]
Egyetért-e Ön azzal, hogy a háziorvosi ellátásért, fogászati ellátásért és a járóbeteg-szakellátásért a jelen kérdésben megtartott népszavazást követő év január 1-jétől ne kelljen vizitdíjat fizetni?  | Do you agree that family doctor care, dentistry care and special outpatient care should be exempt from consultation fees with effect from 1 January in the year after the referendum is held on the present issue?[2]
Egyetért-e Ön azzal, hogy az államilag támogatott felsőfokú tanulmányokat folytató hallgatóknak ne kelljen képzési hozzájárulást fizetni?  | Do you agree that students in state-subsidised higher education should be exempt from tuition fees?[2]

## Results

[edit]

Question  | For  | Against  | Invalid/
blank  | Total
votes  | Registered
voters  | Turnout  | Outcome

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

Votes  | %  | Votes  | %
Inpatient care exempt from daily hospital fees | 3,385,981 | 84.1 | 640,936 | 15.9 | 32,268 | 4,059,185 | 8,040,125 | 50.5 | Approved
Exemptions from consultation fees | 3,321,313 | 82.4 | 708,283 | 17.6 | 29,605 | 4,059,201 | 50.5 | Approved
Higher education tuition fee exemption | 3,309,616 | 82.2 | 715,642 | 17.8 | 33,863 | 4,059,121 | 50.5 | Approved
Source: Nohlen & Stöver, National Election Office

### Turnout

[edit]

On the day of the referendum, the following turnout data was reported:

Time  | %

|

By 07:00 | 1.13
By 09:00 | 7.66
By 11:00 | 18.69
By 13:00 | 26.92
By 15:00 | 35.71
By 17:30 | 46.34
By 19:00 | 50.48

Voting was possible between 6:00 and 19:00. Official results showed that the necessary votes were achieved, with a turnout of over 50% (higher than opinion polls had expected).

## Aftermath

[edit]

The MSZP–SZDSZ coalition suffered a heavy defeat.[5] After Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány intended to dismiss Health Minister Ágnes Horváth [hu] (SZDSZ), the relationship between the two parties permanently deteriorated. On 31 March 2008, various reform-related disagreements between the MSZP and SZDSZ led the SZDSZ leader János Kóka to announce that his party would quit the coalition by 1 May 2008.[6] This also meant that the MSZP formed the first minority government in Hungary since the end of communism, supported externally by SZDSZ.

## References

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2008 Hungarian referendum.

1. ^ Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p899 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
2. ^ a b c d Nohlen & Stöver, p913
3. ^ "Hungarian president announces referendum date", Xinhua (People's Daily Online), 24 January 2008.
4. ^ Hungary's ruling MSZP vows to stick to medical reforms despite referendum - People's Daily Online
5. ^ "Majority vote 'yes' in referendum to abolish medical and higher".
6. ^ Chance, Gergely Szakacs (31 March 2008). "Hungary's governing coalition to break up". Reuters.

* v
* t
* e

Elections and referendums in Hungary

Parliamentary elections|

* 1609
* 1613
* 1618
* 1622
* 1625
* 1630
* 1635
* 1637
* 1647
* 1649
* 1655
* 1659
* 1662
* 1681
* 1687
* 1708
* 1722
* 1728
* 1741
* 1751
* 1764
* 1790
* 1792
* 1796
* 1802
* 1805
* 1807
* 1811
* 1825
* 1830
* 1832
* 1839
* 1843
* 1847
* 1848
* 1861
* 1865
* 1869
* 1872
* 1875
* 1878
* 1881
* 1884
* 1887
* 1892
* 1896
* 1901
* 1905
* 1906
* 1910
* 1920
* 1922
* 1926
* 1931
* 1935
* 1939
* 1944
* 1945
* 1947
* 1949
* 1953
* 1958
* 1963
* 1967
* 1971
* 1975
* 1980
* 1985
* 1990
* 1994
* 1998
* 2002
* 2006
* 2010
* 2014
* 2018
* 2022
* 2026

European elections|

* 2004
* 2009
* 2014
* 2019
* 2024

Local elections|

* 1919
* 1949
* 1953
* 1958
* 1963
* 1967
* 1971
* 1975
* 1980
* 1985
* 1990
* 1994
* 1998
* 2002
* 2006
* 2010
* 2014
* 2019
* 2024

Referendums|

* 1989
* 1990
* 1997
* 2003
* 2004
* 2008
* 2016
* 2022

See also: List of Hungarian by-elections
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template