Christian and Democratic Union - Czechoslovak People's Party
Encyclopedia
The Christian and Democratic Union – Czechoslovak People's Party (Křesťanská a demokratická unie – Československá strana lidová or KDU–ČSL, often shortened to lidovci) is a political party
in the Czech Republic
expressing Christian democratic views. In the June 2006 election
, the party won 7.2% of the vote and 13 out of 200 seats; but in the 2010 election
, this dropped to 4.4% and they lost all their seats.
and Moravia
joined political movements inside Cisleithania
n Austria-Hungary
. The Christian-Social Party was set up in September 1894 in Litomyšl
, and the Catholic National Party in Moravia was set up in September 1896 in Přerov
.
Československá strana lidová (ČSL) was created in January 1919 in Prague
, reuniting other Catholic parties, and Jan Šrámek
was selected as its chairman. In 1921, ČSL entered the government of Czechoslovakia
, and was subsequently part of governing coalitions regardless of political changes.
After the German occupation of Czechoslovakia
, Šrámek served as head of Czechoslovak government in exile
(in the United Kingdom). After 1945, ČSL was part of the national unity government
, forming its most right-wing section. When the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia
took over all power in February 1948, many ČSL officials were imprisoned. The party lost any real influence and was kept as a de facto puppet of communists (see National Front
). In turn, it was allowed to keep a token presence of ČSL in government until 1989.
After the Velvet Revolution
in 1989 ČSL attempted to shed its compromised figures and policies of the past: this included a change of name in 1992 after the merger with the Christian Democratic Union movement (which was a post-revolution attempt at more modern political Catholicism trying to emulate the German CDU
, but lacking the strength of its traditional counterpart). KDU-ČSL was part of the governments of Václav Klaus
's Civic Democratic Party (ODS) until its ministers left in autumn 1997 which triggered the government's fall; KDU-ČSL was also represented in the caretaker government of Josef Tošovský
before the premature elections in 1998.
. Historically, it is a mass party with about 50,000 members (second after the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia
); most of them are of old age, however, and recruitment of new members can't keep the membership numbers from declining.
The influence of the party is rather bigger than that, as it tries – so far rather successfully – to take advantage of the fragmented Czech political situation and make itself a necessary part of any coalition, whether the winning big party be left- or right-wing.
In June 2002 KDU–ČSL went into the elections on a joint ballot with the Freedom Union–Democratic Union) (US–DEU) as the "Two-Coalition", which was the last remnant of an unsuccessful attempt to unite them with three smaller parties into the "Four-Coalition" which would provide an alternative to the practices of the "opposition agreement" of ODS and Czech Social Democratic Party
(ČSSD). However it turned out that the KDU–ČSL's traditional voters identified much more strongly with their original party than the whole, unlike US–DEU's liberal city ones, and using preferential votes on evenly split ballots caused that KDU–ČSL gained 22 MPs to US–DEU's 9 even though both parties were of roughly equal strength. They entered the government again by forming a coalition with the winning Czech Social Democratic Party.
In 2003 Miroslav Kalousek
was elected chairman; unlike his predecessor Cyril Svoboda
he represents the right wing of KDU–ČSL favouring cooperation with ODS, which was a source of tension within the coalition. He refused to enter the government both after his election and the government’s reconstruction after PM Vladimír Špidla
’s resignation, and finally on 19 February 2005 asked for the resignation of PM Stanislav Gross
after his finance scandal broke out. Gross retaliated by threatening to remove KDU–ČSL from his cabinet; a government crisis ensued.
After the 2006 legislative elections
and lengthy negotiations caused by stalemated result, the KDU–ČSL formed a government together with the ODS and the Green Party
(SZ).
KDU–ČSL is a member of the European People's Party
(EPP).
Cyril Svoboda
became the party chairman on 30 May 2009. In reaction to his election, his predecessor Miroslav Kalousek
led a split from the party to form TOP 09, as he considered Svoboda to be too far on the left wing of the party. In the 2010 Chamber of Deputies election
, the party's vote dropped to 4.39%, and they lost every one of their seats to other parties. Svoboda resigned as a consequence of the results.
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
in the Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
expressing Christian democratic views. In the June 2006 election
Czech legislative election, 2006
Parliamentary elections were held in the Czech Republic on 2 and 3 June 2006.The pre-election campaign was fierce and mostly negative. A major scandal broke out few days before the election. The two largest parties had profited from the divisive campaign – both had obtained the highest percentage...
, the party won 7.2% of the vote and 13 out of 200 seats; but in the 2010 election
Czech legislative election, 2010
A legislative election in the Czech Republic took place on 28–29 May 2010. The election had been expected to take place some time before the end of 2009 to elect the members of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic...
, this dropped to 4.4% and they lost all their seats.
History
Towards the end of the 19th century Roman Catholics in BohemiaBohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
and Moravia
Moravia
Moravia is a historical region in Central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, and one of the former Czech lands, together with Bohemia and Silesia. It takes its name from the Morava River which rises in the northwest of the region...
joined political movements inside Cisleithania
Cisleithania
Cisleithania was a name of the Austrian part of Austria-Hungary, the Dual Monarchy created in 1867 and dissolved in 1918. The name was used by politicians and bureaucrats, but it had no official status...
n Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
. The Christian-Social Party was set up in September 1894 in Litomyšl
Litomyšl
Litomyšl is a town and municipality in the Pardubice Region of the Czech Republic. The chateau complex in the town centre is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.-History:...
, and the Catholic National Party in Moravia was set up in September 1896 in Přerov
Prerov
Přerov is a town in the Olomouc Region of the Czech Republic where the Bečva river flows through. Přerov is a statute town . It has population of about 47,373 to January 2, 2008. Přerov is about 22 km south west of Olomouc. In the past it was a major crossroad in the heart of Moravia in the...
.
Československá strana lidová (ČSL) was created in January 1919 in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
, reuniting other Catholic parties, and Jan Šrámek
Jan Šrámek
Jan Šrámek was Prime Minister of the Czechoslovak government-in-exile from July 21, 1940 to April 5, 1945. He was the first chairman of the Czechoslovak People's Party and was a Monsignor....
was selected as its chairman. In 1921, ČSL entered the government of Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
, and was subsequently part of governing coalitions regardless of political changes.
After the German occupation of Czechoslovakia
German occupation of Czechoslovakia
German occupation of Czechoslovakia began with the Nazi annexation of Czechoslovakia's northern and western border regions, known collectively as the Sudetenland, under terms outlined by the Munich Agreement. Nazi leader Adolf Hitler's pretext for this effort was the alleged privations suffered by...
, Šrámek served as head of Czechoslovak government in exile
Government in exile
A government in exile is a political group that claims to be a country's legitimate government, but for various reasons is unable to exercise its legal power, and instead resides in a foreign country. Governments in exile usually operate under the assumption that they will one day return to their...
(in the United Kingdom). After 1945, ČSL was part of the national unity government
National unity government
A national unity government, government of national unity, or national union government is a broad coalition government consisting of all parties in the legislature, usually formed during a time of war or other national emergency.- Canada :During World War I the Conservative government of Sir...
, forming its most right-wing section. When the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia
Communist Party of Czechoslovakia
The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, in Czech and in Slovak: Komunistická strana Československa was a Communist and Marxist-Leninist political party in Czechoslovakia that existed between 1921 and 1992....
took over all power in February 1948, many ČSL officials were imprisoned. The party lost any real influence and was kept as a de facto puppet of communists (see National Front
National Front (Czechoslovakia)
The National Front was the coalition of parties which headed the re-established Czechoslovakian government from 1945 to 1948. During the Communist era in Czechoslovakia it was the vehicle for control of all political and social activity by the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia...
). In turn, it was allowed to keep a token presence of ČSL in government until 1989.
After the Velvet Revolution
Velvet Revolution
The Velvet Revolution or Gentle Revolution was a non-violent revolution in Czechoslovakia that took place from November 17 – December 29, 1989...
in 1989 ČSL attempted to shed its compromised figures and policies of the past: this included a change of name in 1992 after the merger with the Christian Democratic Union movement (which was a post-revolution attempt at more modern political Catholicism trying to emulate the German CDU
Christian Democratic Union (Germany)
The Christian Democratic Union of Germany is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It is regarded as on the centre-right of the German political spectrum...
, but lacking the strength of its traditional counterpart). KDU-ČSL was part of the governments of Václav Klaus
Václav Klaus
Václav Klaus is the second President of the Czech Republic and a former Prime Minister .An economist, he is co-founder of the Civic Democratic Party, the Czech Republic's largest center-right political party. Klaus is a eurosceptic, but he reluctantly endorsed the Lisbon treaty as president of...
's Civic Democratic Party (ODS) until its ministers left in autumn 1997 which triggered the government's fall; KDU-ČSL was also represented in the caretaker government of Josef Tošovský
Josef Tošovský
Josef Tošovský is a Czech economist and was governor of Czech National Bank from 1993 to 2000. From 16 December 1997 to 17 July 1998 he was the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic in a caretaker government.Tošovský graduated from the University of Economics, Prague...
before the premature elections in 1998.
Current situation
KDU–ČSL has relatively low but stable support of voters (6–10%); it is strongest in the traditionally Catholic rural areas in MoraviaMoravia
Moravia is a historical region in Central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, and one of the former Czech lands, together with Bohemia and Silesia. It takes its name from the Morava River which rises in the northwest of the region...
. Historically, it is a mass party with about 50,000 members (second after the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia
Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia
The Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia , abbreviated to KSČM, is a political party in the Czech Republic. It has a membership of 82,994 and is a member party of the European United Left - Nordic Green Left bloc in the European Parliament...
); most of them are of old age, however, and recruitment of new members can't keep the membership numbers from declining.
The influence of the party is rather bigger than that, as it tries – so far rather successfully – to take advantage of the fragmented Czech political situation and make itself a necessary part of any coalition, whether the winning big party be left- or right-wing.
In June 2002 KDU–ČSL went into the elections on a joint ballot with the Freedom Union–Democratic Union) (US–DEU) as the "Two-Coalition", which was the last remnant of an unsuccessful attempt to unite them with three smaller parties into the "Four-Coalition" which would provide an alternative to the practices of the "opposition agreement" of ODS and Czech Social Democratic Party
Czech Social Democratic Party
The Czech Social Democratic Party is a social-democratic political party in the Czech Republic.-History:The Social Democratic Czechoslavonic party in Austria was founded on 7 April 1878 in Austria-Hungary representing the Kingdom of Bohemia in the Austrian parliament...
(ČSSD). However it turned out that the KDU–ČSL's traditional voters identified much more strongly with their original party than the whole, unlike US–DEU's liberal city ones, and using preferential votes on evenly split ballots caused that KDU–ČSL gained 22 MPs to US–DEU's 9 even though both parties were of roughly equal strength. They entered the government again by forming a coalition with the winning Czech Social Democratic Party.
In 2003 Miroslav Kalousek
Miroslav Kalousek
Miroslav Kalousek is a Czech politician, who currently serves as the Finance Minister. He is also the First Deputy Chairman of the Tradition Responsibility Prosperity 09, the party he founded....
was elected chairman; unlike his predecessor Cyril Svoboda
Cyril Svoboda
Cyril Svoboda is a Czech politician. Before entering politics he was a notary public and advisor to the Czech government. He is a member of the Christian and Democratic Union – Czechoslovak People's Party...
he represents the right wing of KDU–ČSL favouring cooperation with ODS, which was a source of tension within the coalition. He refused to enter the government both after his election and the government’s reconstruction after PM Vladimír Špidla
Vladimír Špidla
Vladimír Špidla is a Czech politician. He served as Prime Minister of the Czech Republic from July 2002 to June 2004. Then Vladimír Špidla was appointed to the European Commission as Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities.-Biography:Špidla studied history at Charles...
’s resignation, and finally on 19 February 2005 asked for the resignation of PM Stanislav Gross
Stanislav Gross
Stanislav Gross is a Czech lawyer and former politician, member of the Czech Social Democratic Party . He served as minister of the interior and as Prime Minister of the Czech Republic .-Early political career:...
after his finance scandal broke out. Gross retaliated by threatening to remove KDU–ČSL from his cabinet; a government crisis ensued.
After the 2006 legislative elections
Czech legislative election, 2006
Parliamentary elections were held in the Czech Republic on 2 and 3 June 2006.The pre-election campaign was fierce and mostly negative. A major scandal broke out few days before the election. The two largest parties had profited from the divisive campaign – both had obtained the highest percentage...
and lengthy negotiations caused by stalemated result, the KDU–ČSL formed a government together with the ODS and the Green Party
Green Party (Czech Republic)
The Green Party is a political party in the Czech Republic.The party was founded in February 1990 but for a long time it struggled to obtain significant influence in Czech politics. In the 2002 legislative election the party received 2.4% of the vote...
(SZ).
KDU–ČSL is a member of the European People's Party
European People's Party
The European People's Party is a pro-European centre-right European political party. The EPP was founded in 1976 by Christian democratic parties, but later it increased its membership to include conservative parties and parties of other centre-right perspectives.The EPP is the most influential of...
(EPP).
Cyril Svoboda
Cyril Svoboda
Cyril Svoboda is a Czech politician. Before entering politics he was a notary public and advisor to the Czech government. He is a member of the Christian and Democratic Union – Czechoslovak People's Party...
became the party chairman on 30 May 2009. In reaction to his election, his predecessor Miroslav Kalousek
Miroslav Kalousek
Miroslav Kalousek is a Czech politician, who currently serves as the Finance Minister. He is also the First Deputy Chairman of the Tradition Responsibility Prosperity 09, the party he founded....
led a split from the party to form TOP 09, as he considered Svoboda to be too far on the left wing of the party. In the 2010 Chamber of Deputies election
Czech legislative election, 2010
A legislative election in the Czech Republic took place on 28–29 May 2010. The election had been expected to take place some time before the end of 2009 to elect the members of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic...
, the party's vote dropped to 4.39%, and they lost every one of their seats to other parties. Svoboda resigned as a consequence of the results.
Czechoslovak People's Party
- 1920 National Assembly: 11.3 % – 33 seats
- 1925 National Assembly: 9.7 % – 31 seats
- 1929 National Assembly: 8.4 % – 25 seats
- 1935 National Assembly: 7.5 % – 22 seats
- 1946 National AssemblyCzechoslovak parliamentary election, 1946Parliamentary elections were held in Czechoslovakia on 26 May 1946. The result was a victory for the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, which won 93 of the 300 seats. Voter turnout was 93.9%.-Background:...
: 15.6% (20.2%) – 46 seats
since 1990
- 1990 Czech National CouncilCzech legislative election, 1990A Czech legislative election took place on 8 and 9 June 1990.These elections were the first elections after the Velvet Revolution. They took place within the Czechoslovak parliamentary election, 1990, i.e...
: (Christian and Democratic Union 8.4 % – 20 seats) - 1992 Czech National CouncilCzech legislative election, 1992National Council elections were held in the Czech part of Czechoslovakia on 5 and 6 June 1992, alongside federal elections. The result was a victory for the Civic Democratic Party-Christian Democratic Party alliance, which won 76 of the 200 seats. Voter turnout was 85.0%. When the Czech Republic...
: 6.3% – 15 seats - 1996 Chamber of DeputiesCzech legislative election, 1996Parliamentary elections were held in the Czech Republic on 31 May and 1 June 1996, the first after independence. The result was a victory for the Civic Democratic Party, which won 68 of the 200 seats. Voter turnout was 76.3%.-Results:...
: 8.1 % – 18 seats - 1996 Senate: 13 seats (whole Senate (81 seats) elected, only one third (27 seats) in next elections)
- 1998 Chamber of DeputiesCzech legislative election, 1998Parliamentary elections were held in the Czech Republic on 19 and 20 June 1998. The result was a victory for the Czech Social Democratic Party, which won 74 of the 200 seats. Voter turnout was 73.9%.-Results:...
: 9 % – 20 seats - 1998 Senate: 5 seats
- 2000 Senate: 8 seats
- 2002 Chamber of DeputiesCzech legislative election, 2002Parliamentary elections were held in the Czech Republic on 14 and 15 June 2002. The result was a victory for the Czech Social Democratic Party, which won 70 of the 200 seats. Voter turnout was 57.9%.-Results:...
: (in coalition with Freedom Union-Democratic Union 14.3%) – 22 seats - 2002 Senate: 1 seat
- 2004 Senate: 3 seats
- 2004 European Parliament:European Parliament election, 2004 (Czech Republic)The European Parliament election of 2004 in the Czech Republic was the election of MEP representing Czech Republic constituency for the 2004–2009 term of the European Parliament. It was part of the wider 2004 European election....
9.6 % – 2 seats - 2006 Chamber of DeputiesCzech legislative election, 2006Parliamentary elections were held in the Czech Republic on 2 and 3 June 2006.The pre-election campaign was fierce and mostly negative. A major scandal broke out few days before the election. The two largest parties had profited from the divisive campaign – both had obtained the highest percentage...
: 7.2 % – 13 seats - 2006 Senate: 4 seats
- 2008 Senate: 0 seats
- 2009 European Parliament:European Parliament election, 2009 (Czech Republic)The European Parliament election of 2009 in Czech Republic was the election of the delegation from Czech Republic to the European Parliament in 2009....
7.6 % – 2 seats - 2010 Chamber of DeputiesCzech legislative election, 2010A legislative election in the Czech Republic took place on 28–29 May 2010. The election had been expected to take place some time before the end of 2009 to elect the members of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic...
: 4.4 % – zero seats - 2010 SenateCzech Senate election, 2010Senate elections were held in the Czech Republic for a third of the Czech Senate in October 2010. The first round was held on 15 and 16 October 2010, with a second round on 22 and 23 October 2010....
: 18 candidates