Czech Social Democratic Party

Czech Social Democratic Party
Česká strana sociálně demokratická
Abbreviation	ČSSD
Leader	Bohuslav Sobotka
Founded	1878
Headquarters	Lidový dům Hybernská 7, Prague
Youth wing	Young Social Democrats
Women's wing	Social Democratic Women
Religious wing	Christian Social Platform
Membership  (2015)	22,534 [1]
Ideology	Social democracy [2] Keynesianism [3]
Political position	Centre-left
International affiliation	Socialist International, Progressive Alliance
European affiliation	Party of European Socialists
European Parliament group	Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats
Colours	Orange
Chamber of Deputies	50 / 200
Senate	35 / 81
European Parliament	4 / 21
Regional councils	205 / 675
Local councils	3,806 / 62,300
Website
http://www.cssd.cz/
Politics of the Czech Republic Political parties Elections

The Czech Social Democratic Party (Czech: Česká strana sociálně demokratická, ČSSD) is a social-democratic^[2][4][5] political party in the Czech Republic. It holds 50 seats in the Chamber of Deputies, making it the largest party. ČSSD leads the governing Cabinet of the Czech Republic since 2013.

History

The Social Democratic Czechoslavonic party in Austria (Czech: Sociálně Demokratická strana Českoslovanská v Rakousku) was founded on 7 April 1878 in Austria-Hungary representing the Kingdom of Bohemia in the Austrian parliament. Its role in the political life of the empire was one of the factors that lead to the creation of independent Czechoslovak Republic. After the collapse of Austria-Hungary, the party became one of the leading parties of the first Czechoslovak Republic. Its membership became split over whether to join the Comintern, which in 1921 resulted in fracturing of the party, with large part of its memberhip forming Communist Party of Czechoslovakia

During the occupation of Czechoslovakia by Nazi Germany, the party was officially abolished, but its members organised resistance movements illegally within the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and abroad. After the re-establishment of the Czechoslovak Republic in 1945, the party returned to its pre-existing structure and became a member of the National Front. In 1948, after the Communist Party assumed the parliamentary majority, the Czech Social Democratic Party was incorporated into Communist Party. Under the reformist environment in 1968, there were talks about allowing the recreation of a Social Democratic party, but Soviet intervention put an end to such ideas. It was only after the Velvet Revolution in 1989, when the party was recreated. Since the dissolution of Czechoslovakia, ČSSD has been one of the major political parties in the Czech Republic, always being one of the two parties with largest number of seats in the Chamber of Deputies.

After the 1998 parliamentary election, the party won the most seats, but failed to form a coalition government. As a result, the party formed a minority government under party leader Miloš Zeman. With only 74 seats out of 200, the government had the confidence and supply from the Civic Democratic Party (ODS), under the so-called Opposition Agreement.

The party won the elections of 2002 with 70 of 200 representatives in the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic. Its chairman Vladimír Špidla became the prime minister heading a coalition with two small centre-right parties, the Christian and Democratic Union (KDU–ČSL) and the Freedom Union – Democratic Union (US-DEU) until his resignation in 2004.

The chairman of the party in years 2006-2010 was Jiří Paroubek. His predecessor was Stanislav Gross from 26 June 2004 to 26 April 2005. Gross resigned after a scandal which arose due to his inability to explain the source of financial resources used to pay for his home. Gross's predecessor Vladimír Špidla was forced to resign in 2004 after the ČSSD lost in the 2004 European Parliamentary elections.

In the June 2 and 3, 2006 elections, the party won 32.3% of the vote and 74 out of 200 seats. The election at first caused a stalemate since the centre-right parties (with Green Party) and centre-left parties each had 100 seats. The stalemate was broken when two ČSSD deputies, Miloš Melčák and Michal Pohanka abstained during a vote of confidence, allowing a coalition of the Civic Democrats (ODS), the KDU-ČSL, and the Green Party to form a government. Hence the ČSSD went into opposition.

Following the 2010 legislative elections, the ČSSD gained 22.08% of the vote and became the largest party with 56 seats, but having failed to form a governing coalition, remained in opposition to a coalition of the ODS, conservative TOP 09 and conservative-liberal Public Affairs parties.

The Party remained the largest Party even after 2013 legislative election and formed a governing coalition with populist ANO 2011 and centrist Christian and Democratic Union – Czechoslovak People's Party parties. The Chairman of ČSSD Bohuslav Sobotka has become the new Prime Minister of the Czech Republic.

Policy positions

In economic matters, the ČSSD party platform is typical of Western European social democratic parties. It supports a mixed economy, a strong welfare state, and progressive taxation.

In foreign policy it supports European integration, including joining the eurozone, and is critical of US foreign policy, especially when in opposition—though it does not oppose membership of the Czech Republic in NATO.

Overview

Czech lands as part of Austria-Hungary:

• 1878–1893 The Czechoslavonic Social Democratic Party in Austria (Sociálně-demokratická strana českoslovanská v Rakousku) – part of Social Democratic Party of Austria
• 1893–1918 The Czechoslavonic Social Democratic Workers' Party (Českoslovanská sociálně demokratická stranu dělnická) – independent party

Czechoslovakia:

• 1918–1938 The Czechoslovak Social Democratic Worker's Party (Československá sociálně demokratická strana dělnická) – merged with Slovak Social Democrats. The party was a member of the Labour and Socialist International between 1923 and 1938.^[6] After the splitup of Austria-Hungary, the Czechoslovak Social Democratic Workers Party in the Republic of Austria split from the main party.
• 1938–1941 The National Labor Party (Národní strana práce) – united left party of Social Democrats and part of Czech National Social Party
• 1945–1948 Czechoslovak Social Democracy (Československá sociální demokracie)
• 1948–1989 – merged with the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, concurrently existed as an exile party with its headquarters in London
• 1990–1993 Czechoslovak Social Democracy (Československá sociální demokracie)

Czech Republic:

• since 1993 Czech Social Democratic Party (Česká strana sociálně demokratická)

Election results

National Assembly of the Czechoslovak Republic

Czech National council/Chamber of deputies of the Czech Republic

Year Vote Vote % Seats Place Government 1990 296,165 4.1 0 6th No 1992 422,736 6.53 16 3rd No 1996 1,602,250 26.4 61 2nd Minority Support 1998 1,928,660 32.31 74 1st Yes 2002 1,440,279 30.2 70 1st Yes 2006 1,728,827 32.32 74 2nd No 2010 1,155,267 22.08 56 1st No 2013 1,016,829 20.45 50 1st Yes Results by regions Region 1990 1992 1996 1998 2002 2006 2010 2013 Prague 4,65 5,14 18,68 23,44 25,85 23,29 15,17 14,09 Central Bohemian 4,83 6,82 25,40 32,70 31,58 30,74 20,52 18,44 South Bohemian 3,94 8,03 24,95 31,11 30,33 30,47 20,55 20,73 West Bohemian 5,89 8,78 25,71 32,73 Plzeň 30,34 31,69 22,01 21,65 Karlovy Vary 29,31 32,73 23,29 21,34 North Bohemian 6,92 7,97 28,74 34,71 Ústí nad Labem 29,18 35,46 24,93 20,77 Liberec 27,05 29,31 19,40 16,89 East Bohemian 5,26 7,20 24,78 29,94 16,89 Hradec Králové 27,48 30,14 19,87 18,57 Pardubice 29,45 32,95 21,95 20,53 Vysočina 31,97 35,35 23,43 23,01 South Moravian 1,51 4,56 24,96 31,81 29,90 32,95 23,35 22,94 North Moravian 2,87 4,56 34,21 38,98 Olomouc 31,92 35,44 24,47 22,22 Zlín 29,06 33,28 21,93 19,39 Moravian-Silesian 36,13 40,54 29,13 26,38 Czech republic 4,11 6,53 26,44 32,31 30,20 32,32 22,08 20,45 Senate election 1996 whole Senate elected (81 seats), in next elections only one third of seats to be contested Election First round Second round Seats Votes % Places* Votes % Places* 1996 559,304 20.3 2nd 733,713 31.8 2nd 25 1998 208,845 21.7 3rd 121,700 22.7 3rd 3 2000 151,943 17.7 3rd 53,503 9.5 5th 1 2002 122,397 18.4 2nd 224,386 27.3 2nd 7 2004 90,446 12.5 4th 24,923 5.2 4th 0 2006 204,573 19.2 2nd 120,127 20.9 2nd 6 2008 347,759 33.2 1st 459,829 55.9 1st 23 2010 290,090 25.3 1st 299,526 44.0 1st 12 2012 199,957 22.7 1st 207,064 40.3 1st 13 2014 226,239 22.0 1st 165,629 35.0 1st 10 European parliament election Election Votes Share of votes in % Seats obtained Place 2004 204,903 8.78 2 5th 2009 528,132 22.39 7 2nd 2014 214,800 14.17 4 3rd Regional election Election Votes Share of votes in % Councillors 2000 344,441 14.67 112 2004 297,083 14.03 105 2008 1,044,719 35.86 280 2012 621,961 23.58 205 Local election Election Share of votes in % Councillors 1994 8.7 1,628 1998 17.54 4,259 2002 15.57 4,664 2006 16.61 4,331 2010 19.68 4,584 2014 12.65 3,773 Chairmen of the Czech Social Democratic Party Czechoslavonic Social Democratic Workers' Party Antonín Němec (1904–1915) Bohumír Šmeral (1916–1917) Czechoslovak Social Democratic Worker's Party Antonín Němec (1917–1925) Antonín Hampl (1925–1938) Czechoslovak Social Democracy Zdeněk Fierlinger (1945–1947) Bohumil Laušman (1947–1948) Czechoslovak Social Democracy in exile Blažej Vilím (1948) Václav Majer (1948–1972) Vilém Bernard (1972–1989) Karel Hrubý Czechoslovak Social Democracy Jiří Horák (1989–1993) Czech Social Democratic Party Miloš Zeman (28 February 1993 – April 2001) Vladimír Špidla (April 2001 – 26 June 2004) Stanislav Gross (26 June 2004 – 26 April 2005) Bohuslav Sobotka (temporary) (2005–2006) Jiří Paroubek (2006–2010) Bohuslav Sobotka (2011–present) See also Politics of the Czech Republic List of political parties in the Czech Republic Elections in the Czech Republic Bohumil Laušman References ↑ Martínek, Jan. "Stranám utíkají i vymírají členové po tisících". Retrieved 12 April 2015.  ↑ 2.0 2.1 Parties and Elections in Europe: The database about parliamentary elections and political parties in Europe, by Wolfram Nordsieck ↑ "Long-term party program" (PDF).  ↑ Paul G. Lewis (2000). Political Parties in Post-Communist Eastern Europe. Routledge. pp. 51–. ISBN 978-0-415-20182-7. Retrieved 6 February 2013.  ↑ Dimitri Almeida (27 April 2012). The Impact of European Integration on Political Parties: Beyond the Permissive Consensus. CRC Press. pp. 71–. ISBN 978-1-136-34039-0. Retrieved 14 July 2013.  ↑ Kowalski, Werner. Geschichte der sozialistischen Arbeiter-Internationale: 1923 – 1938, Berlin: Dt. Verl. d. Wissenschaften, 1985. p. 327. External links ČSSD official website Party basic data in English Political parties in the Czech Republic Bracketed numbers indicate numbers of seats in the respective chambers. Chamber of Deputies 2013 (200 seats) Czech Social Democratic Party (50) ANO 2011 (47) Communist Party (33) TOP 09 (26) Civic Democratic Party (16) Dawn of Direct Democracy (14) Christian and Democratic Union – Czechoslovak People's Party (14) Senate 2014 (81 seats) Czech Social Democratic Party (43) Civic Democratic Party (14) Christian and Democratic Union – Czechoslovak People's Party (4) STAN (3) ANO 2011 (4) Communist Party (2) Severočeši.cz (2) Green Party (2) TOP 09 (1) NK (1) Ostravak (1) Czech Pirate Party (1) SPO (1) non-affiliated (2) European Parliament 2014 (21 seats) ANO 2011 (4) TOP 09+STAN (4) Czech Social Democratic Party (4) Communist Party (3) Christian and Democratic Union – Czechoslovak People's Party (3) Civic Democratic Party (2) Party of Free Citizens (1) Other parties Crown of Bohemia National Socialists – 21st Century Left No To Brussels - National Democracy Sovereignty – Common Sense Party Workers' Party of Social Justice Sources Chamber of Deputies Senate Statistical Office Politics of the Czech Republic Politics portal List of political parties by country Party of European Socialists (PES) European Parliament group: Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats Parties Member parties (EU)   SPÖ   PS sp.a   BSP/БСП   SDP   EDEK/ΕΔΕΚ   ČSSD   A   SDE   SDP   PS   SPD   PA.SO.K./ΠΑ.ΣΟ.Κ.   MSZP   Lab   PD PSI   LSDP   LSAP   PL   PvdA   SLD UP   PS   PSD   SMER-SD   SD   PSOE   SAP   Lab SDLP Member parties (non-EU)   A Associated parties (EU)   PBSD/БСДП Associated parties (non-EU)   PS   SDP BiH   S   SDSM/СДСМ   DPS SDP   DS   SP/PS   BDP CHP Observer parties (EU)   LSDSP Saskaņa Observer parties (non-EU)   PS   ESDP/الديمقراطي   HaAvoda/העבודה Meretz/מרצ   PDM   USPT   CTP   Fatah/فتح   PSD   FDTL Party Presidents Wilhelm Dröscher Robert Pontillon Joop den Uyl Vítor Constâncio Guy Spitaels Willy Claes Rudolf Scharping Robin Cook Poul Nyrup Rasmussen Sergei Stanishev European Parliament Group Presidents Guy Mollet Hendrik Fayat Pierre Lapie Willi Birkelbach Käte Strobel Francis Vals Georges Spénale Ludwig Spénale Ernest Glinne Rudi Arndt Jean-Pierre Cot Pauline Green Enrique Barón Crespo Martin Schulz Hannes Swoboda see European Parliament European Commissioners Vytenis Andriukaitis (Health and Food Safety) Corina Crețu (Regional Policy) Neven Mimica (International Cooperation and Development) Federica Mogherini (Foreign Affairs and Security Policy) Pierre Moscovici (Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs) Maroš Šefčovič (Energy Union) Frans Timmermans (Rule of Law and Charter of Fundamental Rights) Karmenu Vella (Environment, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries) see Juncker Commission Heads of government at the Council of the European Union Werner Faymann (Austria) Zoran Milanović (Croatia) Bohuslav Sobotka (Czech Republic) Helle Thorning-Schmidt (Denmark) François Hollande (France) Matteo Renzi (Italy) Joseph Muscat (Malta) Algirdas Butkevičius (Lithuania) Robert Fico (Slovakia) Stefan Löfven (Sweden) see European Council Eurofoundation: Foundation for European Progressive Studies Wikimedia Commons has media related to Czech Social Democratic Party.