From Disfranchisement to Parliamentary Representation. The First Hungarian Representatives in the Parliament of Prague and Bratislava

After World War II the Hungarian minority in Czechoslovakia was not only deprived of its citizenship but also its franchise. For this reason, in parliamentary elections of 1946 and 1948, the Hungarian population was not allowed to take part. The first parliamentary elections in which Hungarians could finally vote, and Hungarian representatives could be elected to the parliaments of Prague and Bratislava, were the elections in 1954. While out of 368 representatives of the Czechoslovak Parliament in Prague 9 were Hungarians, this rate in the Slovak Parliament in Bratislava is 13, out of 104 representatives. The study features both their election and activities. From then on, until the democratic turn in 1989, the Hungarian minority was constantly provided seats in both parliaments. However, the Hungarian MPs were not elected by the Hungarian community but were chosen and brought to parliament by the communist party. Their charge was to demonstrate the “proper” nationality policy of the communist party. Opportunities to stand for the Hungarian minority´s interests were almost none.