(05/26/10) -

Social Democrats Lead as Czech Election Looms

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – The Czech Social Democratic Party (CSSD) is the most popular political organization in the country, according to a poll by CVVM. 30.5 per cent of respondents would vote for the main opposition party in this week’s legislative election.

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – The Czech Social Democratic Party (CSSD) is the most popular political organization in the country, according to a poll by CVVM. 30.5 per cent of respondents would vote for the main opposition party in this week’s legislative election.

The ruling Civic Democratic Party (ODS) is in second place with 19 per cent, followed by Tradition Responsibility Prosperity 09 (TOP 09) with 14 per cent, the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSCM) with 13 per cent, and Public Affairs (VV) with 11.5 per cent. Support is lower for the Green Party (SZ), the Christian and Democratic Union – Czech People’s Party (KDU-CSL) and the Czech Party of Citizens’ Rights (SPO).

In June 2006, Czech voters renewed the Chamber of Representatives. Final results gave the ODS 35.58 per cent of all cast ballots, followed by the CSSD with 32.32 per cent. Czech parties require at least five per cent of the vote to earn seats under the country’s proportional representation system. The final tallies gave the ODS, the KDU-CSL and the SZ 10 seats in the lower house, with the remaining 100 seats going to the CSSD and the KSCM.

The tie among rival factions led to a long political stalemate. In January 2007, Czech president Vaclav Klaus re-appointed ODS leader Mirek Topolanek as prime minister.

In March 2009, Topolanek’s government finally lost one of many non-confidence motions tabled by the opposition since 2007. The last motion was in part incited by opposition to the government’s handling of the economy. The leaders of the ODS, KDU-CSL, SZ and CSSD agreed to form an interim cabinet of non-partisan members. Klaus appointed Jan Fischer—a non-partisan, little known public servant who had been heading the Czech Statistical Office (CSU)—to serve as interim prime minister. Fischer took office in May.

Fischer was originally slated to serve until early October 2009, when a new legislative election was supposed to take place. The ballot was postponed due to a Constitutional Court decision, and was re-scheduled for May 28 and May 29, 2010.

On May 19, CSSD leader Jiri Paroubek criticized the economic record of the Topolanek government, saying, "One of the greatest challenges is the need of establishing the common European currency in the Czech Republic. When the Social Democratic government ended in 2006, our republic was fulfilling the necessary criteria to enter the European Monetary Union. But the coalition government led by the Civic Democrats unfortunately wasn’t able to continue in our policy and thus postponed the adoption of the euro."

Polling Data

What party list would you vote for in the next parliamentary election?