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Hungary Patriotic People's Front
According to the Constitution, the Patriotic People's
Front
(PPF) "unites the forces of society for the complete
building up
of socialism, for the solution of political, economic, and
cultural tasks." The Constitution adds that the PPF
"cooperates
in the election and operation of the organs of popular
representation." The PPF facilitated broad mass
participation in
regime policies and generated mass support for party
programs. In
1988, according to Imre Pozsgay, at that time head of the
PPF,
the tasks of that organization included helping to achieve
a new
social accord in Hungary, consolidating new public
thinking in
the public consciousness, and helping citizens to
participate in
building a socialist society from below.
Approximately 130,000 grass-roots committees elected by
local
citizens carried out PPF policies on the local level. A
congress
of the PPF met every four years to elect its National
Council and
to review the activities of the organization. The National
Council elected the National Presidency and the National
Secretariat, which managed the PPF and set policy for it.
The PPF undertook a variety of tasks. Perhaps most
important,
it organized national and local elections
(see
Elections to the National Assembly;
County and District Government
, this
ch.). The
PPF served as an umbrella organization that united such
bodies as
the National Council of Hungarian Women, the National
Gypsy
Council, and other bodies representing national minorities
in
Hungary. The PPF also provided a framework for cooperation
among
different classes and strata of society, between religious
believers and nonbelievers, and between party members and
nonparty members. Finally, the PPF attempted to protect
citizens'
interests by leading the struggle against the corruption
and
abuse of power.
Data as of September 1989
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