Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia

Communist Party of
Bohemia and Moravia
Komunistická strana Čech a Moravy
Leader Vojtěch Filip
Founded 1989
Preceded by Communist Party of Czechoslovakia
Headquarters Politických vězňů 9, Prague
Think tank Centrum strategických a teoretických studií KSČM
Youth wing Communist Youth Union
Young Communists
Membership (2016) 42,994[1]
Ideology Communism[2][3]
Marxism[4]
Euroscepticism[5][6][7]
Political position Left-wing to Far-left
European affiliation Party of the European Left (observer)
International affiliation International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties
European Parliament group European United Left–Nordic Green Left
Colours      Red
Slogan With People for People
Anthem
"Internacionála"
"The Internationale"
Chamber of Deputies
33 / 200
Senate
2 / 81
European Parliament
3 / 21
Regional councils [8]
86 / 675
Local councils
2,564 / 62,300
Party flag
Website
http://www.kscm.cz/
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The Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (Czech: Komunistická strana Čech a Moravy, KSČM) is a communist party 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.

Along with the Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova it is one of only two 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 suit laws adopted after 1989.[9][10] 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). After the 2012 regional elections, it began governing in coalition with the ČSSD in 10 regions.[11] It has never been part of governing coalition in executive branch. Its youth organisation was banned from 2006 to 2010,[10][12] and there have been calls from other parties to outlaw the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia.[13] Until 2013 it was the only political party in Czech Republic printing its own newspapers, called Haló noviny.[14]

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.[15]

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

During the party's first congress, held in Olomouc in October 1990, the party's then-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."[16] 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.[9] Delegates approved the new program but rejected the name change.[9]

During 1991 and 1992 factional tensions increased, with the party's conservative anti-revisionist wing increasingly vocal in criticizing Svoboda.[9] There was an increase in popularity of the anti-revisionist Marxist–Leninist Clubs amongst rank and file party members.[9] 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.[9] In December 1991 the Democratic Left split off and formed the short-lived Party of Democratic Labour.[9] The referendum on changing the name was held in 1992, with 75.94% voting not to change the name.[9]

The party's second congress, held in Kladno in December 1992, showed the increasing popularity of the party's anti-revisionist wing.[9] It passed resolutions reinterpreting the 1990 program as a "starting point" for the KSČM, rather than a definitive statement of a post-communist program.[9] Svoboda, who was hospitalized due to an attack by an anti-communist extremist, couldn't attend the congress but was nevertheless overwhelmingly reelected.[9]

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.[17] 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.[15]

At the 1993 congress, held in Prostějov, Svoboda's proposals were overwhelmingly rejected by two-thirds majorities.[15] Svoboda did not seek reelection as chairman, and neocommunist Miroslav Grebeníček was elected chairman.[15] 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.[15] 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 they gave too much influence to minority groups.[15]

After the party's second congress in 1992, several groups split away. A group of postcommunist delegates split off and merged with the Party of Democratic Labour to form the Party of the Democratic Left (SDL).[15] 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).[15] Both groups eventually merged into the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS),[18] which does some joint work, and co-operates with the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia. Svoboda also left the party and eventually joined the ČSSD in 1997. Several smaller groups split away.

The expelled members of 'For Socialism' formed the 'Party of Czechoslovak Communists' (later renamed the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia), led by Miroslav Štěpán.[18] 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 kept 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.[19]

After a long-running battle with the Ministry of the Interior, in 2006 the KSCM's youth section — the Communist Youth Union (KSM) led by Milan Krajča — was dissolved, allegedly for endorsing in its program the replacement of private with collective ownership of the means of production.[12] The decision met with international protests.[20]

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 viewpoint that the program of KSČM does not disown violence as a means of attaining power and adopts The Communist Manifesto of Karl Marx.[21] This was however only a symbolic gesture because according to the Constitution only the Cabinet may file a petition to dissolve a political party with the Supreme Administrative Court.

The KSČM's strongest bases of support are in the regions hit by deindustrialization, particularly in Karlovy Vary and Ústí nad Labem. In 2012 it won the regional election for the first time, in the Ústí nad Labem region. Its regional leader Oldřich Bubeníček then became first communist regional governor in the history of Czech Republic.[22] The party is stronger with older voters than younger voters, with the majority of the membership being over 60.[23] The party is also stronger in small and medium-sized towns than in big cities,[24] with Prague consistently being the party's weakest region. It is a third largest party in the Czech Chamber of Deputies, position it held continuously after all elections to this chamber in the history of Czech republic except those in 2010, when it came fourth.

Parliament of the Czech Republic

Chamber of Deputies (Lower House)

Chamber of Deputies
Election year # of
overall votes		 % of
overall vote		 # of
overall seats won		 ±
1990 954,690 13.2
33 / 200
1992 909,490 14.0[lower-alpha 1]
35 / 200
 Increase2
1996 626,136 10.3
22 / 200
 Decrease13
1998 658,550 11.0
24 / 200
 Increase2
2002 882,653 18.5
41 / 200
 Increase17
2006 685,328 12.8
26 / 200
 Decrease15
2010 589,765 11.3
26 / 200
 Steady0
2013 741,044 14.9
33 / 200
 Increase7

Notes:

  1. ↑ In 1992 KSČM participated in the Left Bloc, an electoral alliance with smaller leftwing groups and independents.[9]

Senate (Upper House)

Senate
Election year First Round Second Round # 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
1998 159,123 16.5 31,097 5.8
4 / 81
 Increase2
2000 152,934 17.8 73,372 13.0
3 / 81
 Decrease1
2002 110,171 16.5 57,434 7.0
3 / 81
 Steady0
2004 125,892 17.4 65,136 13.6
2 / 81
 Decrease1
2006 134,863 12.7 26,001 4.5
2 / 81
 Steady0
2008 147,186 14.1
3 / 81
 Increase1
2010 117,374 10.2
2 / 81
 Decrease1
2012 153,335 17.4 79,663 15.5
2 / 81
 Steady0
2014 99,973 9.74
1 / 81
 Decrease1

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

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

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

Leaders

References

  1. ↑ "Naděje? Komunistů jsou každoročně o tři tisíce méně - Echo24.cz". echo24.cz (in Czech). 14 May 2016. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
  2. ↑ Bozóki, A & Ishiyama, J (2002) The Communist Successor Parties of Central and Eastern Europe, pp150-153
  3. ↑ "Parties and Elections in Europe, Czechia, The database about parliamentary elections and political parties in Europe, by Wolfram Nordsieck". Parties & Elections. 14 October 2013. Retrieved 14 October 2013.
  4. ↑ "Naděje pro Českou republiku (2006)" (PDF). kscm.cz (in Czech). 29 March 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
  5. ↑ "How Europe will break on Brexit". Politico.eu. 22 June 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
  6. ↑ "O Brexitu neboli proč by EU měla jít". kscm.cz. 19 July 2016. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  7. ↑ "Krachující Evropská unie a Česká republika". kscm.cz. 9 September 2016. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
  8. ↑ Počty přidělených mandátů | volby.cz (in Czech)
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Bozóki & Ishiyama, p146
  10. 1 2 "Elections: What's on the menu (in English)". Prague Daily Monitor. 25 October 2013. Retrieved 25 October 2013.
  11. ↑ ČSSD to rule along with Communists in 10 of 13 Czech regions | Prague Monitor
  12. 1 2 "Radio Prague - Communists denounce ban on far-left youth movement". Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  13. ↑ "Czech Activists Seek to Outlaw Communist Party". The New York Times. 23 December 2009. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  14. ↑ "Halonoviny.cz - české levicové zprávy". Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Bozóki & Ishiyama, p147
  16. ↑ Bozóki & Ishiyama, pp145-146
  17. ↑ Bozóki & Ishiyama, pp146-147
  18. 1 2 Bozóki & Ishiyama, p157
  19. ↑ 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.
  20. ↑ agitprop.eu - agitprop Resources and Information. This website is for sale! Archived 14 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine.
  21. ↑ 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.
  22. ↑ "Oldřich Bubeníček". Novinky.cz. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  23. ↑ Bozóki & Ishiyama, p155
  24. ↑ Bozóki & Ishiyama, p156
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