Jump to content

Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Small Bayonet (talk | contribs) at 15:08, 4 June 2021. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Communist Party of
Bohemia and Moravia
Komunistická strana Čech a Moravy
LeaderVojtěch Filip
Deputy LeadersPetr Šimůnek [cs]
Stanislav Grospič [cs]
Kateřina Konečná
Václav Ort [cs]
Chamber of Deputies LeaderPavel Kováčik [cs]
MEP LeaderKateřina Konečná
Founded31 March 1990
Preceded byCommunist Party of Czechoslovakia
HeadquartersPolitických vězňů 9, Prague
NewspaperHaló noviny
Think tankInstitute of the Czech Left
Youth wingYoung Communists
Membership (2020)31,456
Ideology
Political positionFar-left[7][8]
European affiliationParty of the European Left (observer)[9]
European Parliament groupThe Left in the European Parliament – GUE/NGL[10]
International affiliationInternational Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties
Colours  Red
Chamber of Deputies
15 / 200
Senate
0 / 81
European Parliament
1 / 21
Regional councils
13 / 675
Local councils
1,426 / 62,300
Party flag
Flag of the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia
Website
http://www.kscm.cz/
Part of a series on
Communist parties
Africa
Americas
Asia

Former parties

Europe

Former parties

Oceania

Former parties

International organizations
Related topics
Politics of the Czech Republic
Constitution
Executive
Parliament
Judiciary
Recent elections
Administrative divisions
Foreign relations

The Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (Template:Lang-cs, KSČM) is a communist party[1][2] in the Czech Republic. It has a membership of 42,994 (2016) and is a member party of the European United Left–Nordic Green Left bloc in the European Parliament.[10]

It is one of few former ruling parties in post-communist Central Eastern Europe which has not dropped the communist title from its name, although it changed its party program to adhere to laws adopted after 1989.[11][12] For most of the first two decades after the Velvet Revolution, the party was politically isolated and accused of extremism, but it has moved closer to the Czech Social Democratic Party (ČSSD).[12] After the 2012 regional elections, it began governing in coalition with the ČSSD in 10 regions.[13] It has never been part of a governing coalition in the executive branch, but provides parliamentary support to Andrej Babiš' Second Cabinet.

The party's youth organisation was banned from 2006 to 2010,[12][14] and there have been calls from other parties to outlaw the main party.[15] Until 2013 it was the only political party in the Czech Republic printing its own newspaper, called Haló noviny.[16]

The party's two cherry logo comes from the song Le Temps des cerises, a revolutionary song associated with the Paris Commune.[17]

History

The Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia was formed in 1989 by the Congress of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, which decided to create a party for the territories of Bohemia and Moravia (including Czech Silesia), the areas that were to become the Czech Republic. The new party's organization was significantly more democratic and decentralized than the previous party and gave local district branches of the party significant autonomy.[18]

In 1990, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia was reorganized as a federation of the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia and the Communist Party of Slovakia. Later, the Communist Party of Slovakia changed its name to the Party of the Democratic Left, and the federation dissolved in 1992.

During the party's first congress, held in Olomouc in October 1990, party leader Jiří Svoboda attempted to reform the party into a democratic socialist one, proposing a democratic socialist program and changing the name to the transitional "Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia: Party of Democratic Socialism."[19] Svoboda had to balance the criticisms of older conservative communists, who made up a majority of the party's members, with the demands of an increasingly large and moderate bloc of members, led primarily by a group of young KSČM parliamentarians called the Democratic Left, who demanded the immediate social democratization of the party.[11] Delegates approved the new program but rejected the name change.[11]

During 1991 and 1992, factional tensions increased, with the party's conservative anti-revisionist wing increasingly vocal in criticizing Svoboda.[11] There was an increase in popularity of the anti-revisionist Marxist–Leninist Clubs amongst rank and file party members.[11] On the party's other wing, the Democratic Left became increasingly critical of the slow pace of the reforms and began demanding a referendum of members to change the name.[11] In December 1991 the Democratic Left split off and formed the short-lived Party of Democratic Labour.[11] The referendum on changing the name was held in 1992, with 75.94% voting not to change the name.[11]

The party's second congress, held in Kladno in December 1992, showed the increasing popularity of the party's anti-revisionist wing.[11] It passed resolutions reinterpreting the 1990 program as a "starting point" for the KSČM, rather than a definitive statement of a post-communist program.[11] Svoboda, who was hospitalized due to an attack by an anti-communist, could not attend the congress but was nevertheless overwhelmingly re-elected.[11] After the party's second congress in 1992, several groups split away. A group of post-communist delegates split off and merged with the Party of Democratic Labour to form the Party of the Democratic Left (SDL).[18] Several independent left-wing members who had participated with the KSČM in the 1992 electoral pact called the Left Bloc left the party to form the Left Bloc Party (SLB).[18] Both groups eventually merged into the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS),[20] which does some joint work, and co-operates with the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia.

In 1993, Svoboda attempted to expel the members of the 'For Socialism' platform, a group in the party that wanted a restoration of the pre-1989 communist regime.[21] However, with only the lukewarm support of the KSČM's Central Committee, he briefly resigned. He withdrew his resignation after the Central Committee agreed to move the party's next congress forward to June 1993 to resolve the issues of its name and ideology.[18]

At the 1993 congress, held in Prostějov, Svoboda's proposals were overwhelmingly rejected by two-thirds majorities.[18] Svoboda did not seek re-election as chairman, and neocommunist Miroslav Grebeníček was elected chairman.[18] Grebeníček and his supporters were critical of what they termed the "inadequacies" of the pre-1989 regime but supported the retention of the party's communist character and program.[18] The members of the 'For Socialism' platform were expelled at the congress, with the existence of "platforms" in the party being banned altogether, on the grounds that they gave too much influence to minority groups.[18] Svoboda left the party and eventually joined the ČSSD in 1997.

The expelled members of 'For Socialism' formed the 'Party of Czechoslovak Communists' (later renamed the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia), led by Miroslav Štěpán.[20] The Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia refuses to work with this group.

The party was left on the sidelines for most of the first decade of the Czech Republic's existence. Václav Havel suspected the KSČM was still an unreconstructed Stalinist party and prevented it from having any influence during his presidency. However, the party provided the one-vote margin that elected Havel's successor Václav Klaus as president.[22]

After a long-running battle with the Ministry of the Interior, the Communist Youth Union (KSM), the KSCM youth section led by Milan Krajča, was dissolved in 2006, allegedly for endorsing in its program the replacement of private with collective ownership of the means of production.[14] The decision met with international protests.[23]

In November 2008, the Senate of the Czech Republic asked the Supreme Administrative Court to dissolve the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia because of its political program, which the Senate claimed contradicted the Constitution of the Czech Republic. 30 out of the 38 senators who were present agreed to this request and expressed the view that the program of KSČM did not reject violence as a means of attaining power and adopted The Communist Manifesto of Karl Marx.[24] However, this was only a symbolic gesture, as according to the Constitution only the Cabinet may file a petition with the Supreme Administrative Court to dissolve a political party.

For the first two decades after the end of Communist rule in Czechoslovakia, the Communist Party was politically isolated. However, after the 2012 regional elections, the party started to participate in coalitions with the Social Democrats, forming part of the ruling coalition in 10 out of 13 regions.[13] Since 2018, the Communists have been providing parliamentary support to Andrej Babiš' Second Cabinet.[25][26]

The KSČM's strongest bases of support are in the regions hit by deindustrialization, particularly in the Karlovy Vary and Ústí nad Labem Regions. In 2012 the party won a regional election for the first time, in Ústí nad Labem. Its regional leader Oldřich Bubeníček subsequently became the first communist regional governor in the history of Czech Republic.[27] The party is stronger among older voters than younger voters, with the majority of the membership being over 60.[28] The party is also stronger in small and medium-sized towns than in big cities,[29] with Prague consistently being the party's weakest region.

Parliament of the Czech Republic

A protest against the election of communist Zdeněk Ondráček
Worker's Day Meeting in Brno, organized by the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia
Leader Vojtěch Filip

Chamber of Deputies (Lower House)

Chamber of Deputies
Election year Leader # of
overall votes 		% of
overall vote 		# of
overall seats won 		± Place Position
1990 Jiří Machalík 954,690 13.2
33 / 200
 2nd in opposition
1992 Jiří Svoboda 909,490 14.0[a]
35 / 200
 Increase2 2nd in opposition
1996 Miroslav Grebeníček 626,136 10.3
22 / 200
 Decrease13 3rd in opposition
1998 Miroslav Grebeníček 658,550 11.0
24 / 200
 Increase2 3rd in opposition
2002 Miroslav Grebeníček 882,653 18.5
41 / 200
 Increase17 3rd in opposition
2006 Vojtěch Filip 685,328 12.8
26 / 200
 Decrease15 3rd in opposition
2010 Vojtěch Filip 589,765 11.3
26 / 200
 Steady0 4th in opposition
2013 Vojtěch Filip 741,044 14.9
33 / 200
 Increase7 3rd in opposition
2017 Vojtěch Filip 393,100 7.8
15 / 200
 Decrease18 5th gov′t support
2021 Vojtěch Filip

Notes:

  1. ^ In 1992 KSČM participated in the Left Bloc, an electoral alliance with smaller leftwing groups and independents.[11]

Senate (Upper House)

Senate
Election year First Round Second Round # of seats won # of
overall seats won 		±
# of
overall votes 		% of
overall vote 		# of
overall votes 		% of
overall vote
1996 393,494 14.3 45,304 2.0
2 / 81
2 / 81
1998 159,123 16.5 31,097 5.8
2 / 27
4 / 81
 Increase2
2000 152,934 17.8 73,372 13.0
0 / 27
3 / 81
 Decrease1
2002 110,171 16.5 57,434 7.0
1 / 27
3 / 81
 Steady0
2004 125,892 17.4 65,136 13.6
1 / 27
2 / 81
 Decrease1
2006 134,863 12.7 26,001 4.5
0 / 27
2 / 81
 Steady0
2008 147,186 14.1
1 / 27
3 / 81
 Increase1
2010 117,374 10.2
0 / 27
2 / 81
 Decrease1
2012 153,335 17.4 79,663 15.5
1 / 27
2 / 81
 Steady0
2014 99,973 9.74
0 / 27
1 / 81
 Decrease1
2016 83,741 9.50 5,737 1.35
0 / 27
1 / 81
 Steady0
2018 80,371 7.38 3,578 0.86
0 / 27
0 / 81
 Decrease1
2020 40,994 4.11
0 / 27
0 / 81
 Steady0

European Parliament

European Parliament
Election year # of
overall votes 		% of
overall vote 		# of
overall seats won 		±
2004 472,862 20.3
6 / 24
2009 334,577 14.2
4 / 22
 Decrease2
2014 166,478 11.0
3 / 21
 Decrease1
2019 164,624 6.9
1 / 21
 Decrease2

Local election

Year Vote Vote % Seats
1994 17,413,545 13.6
5,837 / 62,160
1998 10,703,975 13.7
5,748 / 62,920
2002 11 696 976 14.5
5,702 / 62,494
2006 11,730,243 10.8
4,268 / 62,426
2010 8,628,685 9.6
3,189 / 62,178
2014 7,730,503 7.8
2,510 / 62,300
2018 5,416,907 4.8
1,426 / 62,300

Regional election

Year Vote Vote % Seats +/- Place
2000 496,688 21.1
161 / 675
 3rd
2004 416,807 Decrease 19.7 Decrease
157 / 675
 Decrease 2nd
2008 438,024 Increase 15.0 Decrease
114 / 675
 Decrease 3rd
2012 538,953 Increase 20.4 Increase
182 / 675
 Increase 2nd
2016 267,047 Decrease 10.6 Decrease
86 / 675
 Decrease 3rd
2020 131,770 Decrease 4.8 Decrease
13 / 675
 Decrease 9th

Leaders

References

  1. ^ a b Nordsieck, Wolfram (2017). "Czechia". Parties and Elections in Europe.
  2. ^ a b Bozóki, A & Ishiyama, J (2002) The Communist Successor Parties of Central and Eastern Europe, pp150-153
  3. ^ "Naděje pro Českou republiku (2006)" (PDF). kscm.cz (in Czech). 29 March 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
  4. ^ "How Europe will break on Brexit". Politico.eu. 22 June 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  5. ^ "O Brexitu neboli proč by EU měla jít". kscm.cz. 19 July 2016. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  6. ^ "Krachující Evropská unie a Česká republika". kscm.cz. 9 September 2016. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
  7. ^ Kapsas, André (6 April 2018). "Andrej Babiš et les sociaux-démocrates tchèques négocient leur alliance". Courrier d'Europe centrale (in French). Retrieved 12 August 2019..
  8. ^ Lopatka, Jan (30 April 2018). "New dawn or swan song? Czech communists eye slice of power after decades". Reuters. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
  9. ^ "Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia". european-left.org. Archived from the original on 20 August 2017. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
  10. ^ a b "European United Left & Nordic Green Left European Parliamentary Group delegations". www-guengl.eu. Archived from the original on 27 January 2013. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Bozóki & Ishiyama, p146
  12. ^ a b c "Elections: What's on the menu (in English)". Prague Daily Monitor. 25 October 2013. Retrieved 25 October 2013.
  13. ^ a b "ČSSD to rule along with Communists in 10 of 13 Czech regions | Prague Monitor". Archived from the original on 15 April 2013. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
  14. ^ a b "Communists denounce ban on far-left youth movement". Radio Praha. 19 October 2006. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  15. ^ "Czech Activists Seek to Outlaw Communist Party". The New York Times. 23 December 2009. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  16. ^ "Halonoviny.cz - české levicové zprávy". Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  17. ^ "Kdo jsme". Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  18. ^ a b c d e f g h Bozóki & Ishiyama, p147
  19. ^ Bozóki & Ishiyama, pp145-146
  20. ^ a b Bozóki & Ishiyama, p157
  21. ^ Bozóki & Ishiyama, pp146-147
  22. ^ Thompson, Wayne C. (2008). The World Today Series: Nordic, Central and Southeastern Europe 2008. Harpers Ferry, West Virginia: Stryker-Post Publications. ISBN 978-1-887985-95-6.
  23. ^ "Czech Communist Youth Union outlawed". The Guardian. Communist Party of Australia. 25 October 2006. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
  24. ^ iDNES.cz, ČTK (Česká tisková kancelář). "Komunisté ve světě nás nedají, říká o hrozbě rozpuštění šéf KSČM". iDnes, the online portal of Mladá fronta DNES. Retrieved 8 November 2008.
  25. ^ "ČSSD v referendu schválila vládu s ANO. Babiš však ještě nemá vyhráno". iDNES.cz. 15 June 2018. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
  26. ^ "Babiš je podruhé premiérem. Hájil, že vláda bude opřená o komunisty". iDNES.cz. 6 June 2018. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
  27. ^ "Oldřich Bubeníček". Novinky.cz. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  28. ^ Bozóki & Ishiyama, p155
  29. ^ Bozóki & Ishiyama, p156
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Komunistická strana Čech a Moravy.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Communist_Party_of_Bohemia_and_Moravia&oldid=1026841652"