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Czech Social Democrats Bounce Back
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - After a significant dip in popularity, the main opposition party in the Czech Republic has regained momentum, according to a poll by SANEP. 33.1 per cent of respondents would vote for the Czech Social Democratic Party (CSSD) in the next legislative election, up 5.6 points since January.
The ruling Civic Democratic Party (ODS) remains in second place with 24.1 per cent, followed by the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSCM) with 13.4 per cent, and the Tradition Responsibility Prosperity 09 (TOP 09) with 12.8 per cent. Support is lower for Public Affairs (VV), the Christian and Democratic Union - Czech People’s Party (KDU-CSL), and the Green Party (SZ).
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.
In June 2009, former KDU-CSL member Miroslav Kalousek announced the creation of the conservative TOP 09 party. Current senator and former Czech foreign minister Karel Schwarzenberg is the party’s leader.
On Jan. 13, Schwarzenberg said that his party would not support any budget including an increase in the country’s high deficit, saying, "We cannot afford it and we have to realize this."
Polling Data
What party list would you vote for in the next parliamentary election?
|
|
Feb. 2010 |
Jan. 2010 |
Dec. 2009 |
|
Czech Social Democratic Party (CSSD) |
33.1% |
27.5% |
26.3% |
|
Civic Democratic Party (ODS) |
24.1% |
23.0% |
23.6% |
|
Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSCM) |
13.4% |
12.9% |
13.9% |
|
Tradition Responsibility Prosperity 09 (TOP 09) |
12.8% |
11.0% |
11.2% |
|
Public Affairs (VV) |
5.1% |
3.5% |
-- |
|
Christian and Democratic Union - Czech People’s Party (KDU-CSL) |
5.0% |
4.8% |
5.0% |
|
Green Party (SZ) |
3.0% |
2.4% |
3.0% |
Source: SANEP
Methodology: Online interviews with 16,712 Czech voters, conducted from Jan. 28 to Feb. 2, 2010. Margin of error is 1.5 per cent.
