Identity (Brillian political party)
Identity Azonosság | |
|---|---|
| File:IdentityBrilliania.png | |
| President | Tibor Rácz |
| Founder | Pál Juhász |
| Founded | February 1, 2016 (as faction), July 16, 2018 (as party) |
| Split from | Forward Brilliania |
| Headquarters | Tizenöt Június út 29, 30390 Endrőd |
| Membership (2020) | 12,984 |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Right-wing to Far-right |
| Colors | Azure |
| Seats in the National Assembly | 15 / 188 (8%)
|
| Seats in provincial councils | 0 / 824 (0%)
|
| Presidential Commissioners | 0 / 7 (0%)
|
| Seats in municipal councils | 0 / 1,929 (0%)
|
| Directly elected majoralities | 0 / 58 (0%)
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| Website | |
| azonossagpart.be | |
Identity (Brillian: Azonosság), formerly known as Heritage (Brillian: Örokség) is a nationalist political party in Brilliania founded by author and MP Pál Juhász after his loss in the primaries of Forward Brilliania. It was founded on 15 July 2018 as an one-man faction after Juhasz' exppellation from Forward, in order to form a new party for the 2019 Brillian legislative election. After several important party members were blocked by the Election Authority from forming part of the party list due to having criminal records, it was barred from participating in the election and the party instead advised voters to vote blank. Identity borrows parts of its ideology from the National Order, the authoritarian party which ruled Brilliania between 1913 and 1954. Amongst its centrepiece policies are the legalisation of marijuana, reinstating the military draft, the dismantlement of all state-funded religious institutions and restarting usage of the death sentence. On economic grounds, the party opposes both the left and the right and supports a third view which the party claims as being 'tailor-made for the Brillian situation'. Some political analyists consider the party to be syncretic, mixing ideologies of the left-wing and right-wing with far-right elements. Opponents of the party often call it crypto-fascist. In its first election, the November 2019 election, the party recieved 2,04% of the vote, narrowly passing the 2% threshold and recieving 4 seats. It increased its share of the vote to 7,5%, equivalent to 15 seats, in the 2020 election.
Background
The roots of Identity lie within the Heritage Faction, a faction within Forward Brilliania which was founded by Pál Juhász in 2015. Juhász was elected to the National Assembly in 2016 after the party as an outspoken critic of the Law on Religious Governmental Co-operation. In 2018, after members tabled a motion to the parliament to remove Juhász' party membership, he was expelled from the party and formed an independent parliamentary group, which was officially registered as 'Identity' on 16 July 2018.
Ideology
Most political scientists analyze the party as mostly being right-wing politics right-wing with a far-right slant. It is considered as a strongly traditionalist party supporting the preservation of major traditions and the nuclear family, while also being secular as it does not consider religion as a part of tradition. Identity is supportive of environmental preservation and is strongly opposed to capitalism, with the party's motto being "Capitalism is the ideology of arrogance". Some political scientists are opposed to calling the party right-wing and instead note the party's mixed ideology of traditionalist conservatism while advocating for generally left-wing economic views and opposition to popular culture and consumerism as being an example of a populist and syncretic party.
One of the party's cornerstones is the full legalisation of marijuana, which it cites as being less harmful than alcohol or tobacco. The party supports the sale of marijuana in the Monopólium stores, which are also responsible for all legal sale of alcoholic drinks and tobacco products in Brilliania.
Election campaigns
2019
The party was founded two months prior to the start of campaigning and was harmed by its lack of experience. The party announced its motto for 2019, "Defend Heritage and Identity", during its first press conference on 16 January 2019. The party was hampered by several disqualifications which caused its twelve-member party list to fall below the miminal level of six members and disqualifying the party. One of the disqualified members was Pál Juhász, who was disqualified three weeks prior to the election after recieving a suspended two-year sentence for cyberstalking. Juhász did not have parliamentary immunity, due to the parliament being dissolved for the legislative elections. Results of the election were marked by a notable increase of empty and invalid ballot slips being submitted.
On 1 June 2019, the party started a crowd-funding action in order to raise party funds for the (then expected) 2022 election. The funds, totalling over 5 million Florrin, were used for the snap legislative election held in November. Its new party motto, "Capitalism is the Ideology of Arrogance", was revealed on 1 January 2020 together with the party anthem. The party ran on a ten-member male-only slate with ballot number 28. Notably, the party list included ousted former president Ábel Farkas on the fourth spot on the party list.
On 18 November 2019, Pál Juhász' sentence was overturned on appeal and expunged, resulting in MP Tíbor Rácz to resign in order to give Juhász the ability to swear the parliamentary oath and return to parliament.
2020
In January 2020, party members Pal Juhász and Tibor Rácz distributed brochures, inviting foreigners to stay at the houses of Együtt Egységben members. Polls after the November 2019 election showed Identity's seat total increasing rapidly, in part because of the political impasse, with other factors including a rise of immigrant-related crime and an effective digital campaign. The party caused major controversy during its campaign for the 2020 legislative election, as it openly promoted the National Order in one of its election advertisements.
Controversy
Election results
| Election | Leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/– |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 2019 | Pál Juhász | Withdrawn | 0 / 188 (0%)
|
– | |
| November 2019 | Tibor Rácz | 335,808 | 2.04% | 4 / 188 (2%)
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New |
| 2020 | Pál Juhász | 1,231,711 | 7.50% | 15 / 188 (8%)
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