Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia explained

Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia
Native Name:Komunistická strana Čech a Moravy
Native Name Lang:cs
Abbreviation:KSČM
Leader1 Title:Chairwoman
Leader1 Name:Kateřina Konečná
Leader2 Title:First Vice-Chairman
Leader2 Name:Petr Šimůnek
Leader3 Title:Deputy Leaders
Leader3 Name:Marie Pěnčíková
Leo Luzar
Milan Krajča
Foundation:31 March 1990
Predecessor:Communist Party of Czechoslovakia
Headquarters:Politických vězňů 9, Prague
Slogan:"Czech: S lidmi pro lidi!"
"With the people for the people!"
Newspaper:Haló noviny
Think Tank:Institute of the Czech Left
Youth Wing:Young Communists
Membership Year:2023
Membership:18,307
Ideology:Communism[1]
Marxism
Socialism
Euroscepticism
Position:Left-wing to far-left
National:Stačilo!
European:Party of the European Left (observer)
Europarl:The Left in the European Parliament – GUE/NGL (2004–2024)
Non-Inscrits (2024–)[2]
International:IMCWP
WAP[3]
Colours: Red
Flag:Flag of KSČM.svg
Seats1 Title:Chamber of Deputies
Seats2 Title:Senate
Seats3 Title:European Parliament
Seats4 Title:Regional councils
Seats5 Title:Local councils
Country:the Czech Republic

The Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (Czech: Komunistická strana Čech a Moravy, KSČM) is a communist party in the Czech Republic.[4] As of 2022, KSČM has a membership of 20,450.[5] Sources variously describe the party as either left-wing[6] [7] or far-left[8] [9] on the political spectrum. It is one of the few former ruling parties in post-Communist Central Eastern Europe to have not dropped the Communist title from its name, although it has changed its party program to adhere to laws adopted after 1989.[10] It was previously a member party of The Left in the European Parliament – GUE/NGL in the European Parliament,[11] and an observer member of the European Left Party,[12] but is now unaffiliated.

For most of the first two decades after the Velvet Revolution, the party was politically isolated and accused of extremism, but later moved closer to the Czech Social Democratic Party (ČSSD).[10] After the 2012 Czech regional elections, KSČM began governing in coalition with the ČSSD in 10 regions.[13] It has never been part of a governing coalition in the executive branch but provided parliamentary support to Andrej Babiš' Second Cabinet until April 2021. The party's youth organization was banned from 2006 to 2010,[14] and there have been calls from other parties to outlaw the main party.[15] Until 2013, it was the only political party in the Czech Republic printing its own newspaper, called Haló noviny.[16] The party's two cherry logo comes from the song Le Temps des cerises, a revolutionary song associated with the Paris Commune.[17]

History

The party was formed in 1989 by a congress of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ), 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.

In 1990, KSČ was reorganized as a federation of KSČM and the Communist Party of Slovakia (KSS). Later, KSS changed its name to the Party of the Democratic Left, and the federation dissolved in 1992. During the party's first congress, held in Olomouc in October 1990, party 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. 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. Delegates approved the new program but rejected the name change.

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

The party's second congress, held in Kladno in December 1992, showed the increasing popularity of the party's anti-revisionist wing. It passed resolutions reinterpreting the 1990 program as a "starting point" for KSČM, rather than a definitive statement of a post-communist program. Svoboda, who was hospitalized due to an attack by an anti-communist, could not attend the congress but was nevertheless overwhelmingly re-elected. After the party's second congress in 1992, several groups split away. A group of post-communist delegates split off and merged with the Party of Democratic Labour to form the Party of the Democratic Left (SDL). Several independent left-wing members who had participated with KSČM in the 1992 electoral pact, which was called the Left Bloc, left the party to form the Left Bloc Party. Both groups eventually merged into the Party of Democratic Socialism.

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; however, with only the lukewarm support of 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. At the 1993 congress, held in Prostějov, Svoboda's proposals were overwhelmingly rejected by two-thirds majorities. Svoboda did not seek re-election as chairman, and neocommunist Miroslav Grebeníček was elected chairman. 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. 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 that they gave too much influence to minority groups. Svoboda left the party.

The expelled members of "For Socialism" formed the Party of Czechoslovak Communists, later renamed the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, which was led by Miroslav Štěpán. KSČM 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 KSČM was still an unreconstructed neo-Stalinist party and prevented 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.[18] After a long-running battle with the Ministry of the Interior, the Communist Youth Union led by Milan Krajča, was dissolved in 2006 for allegedly endorsing in its program the replacement of private with collective ownership of the means of production.[14] The decision met with international protests.[19]

In November 2008, the Czech Senate asked the Supreme Administrative Court to dissolve KSČM because of its political program, which the Senate argued contradicted the Constitution of the Czech Republic. 30 out of the 38 senators who were present agreed to this request, and expressed the view that the party's program did not reject violence as a means of attaining power and adopted The Communist Manifesto of Karl Marx;[20] however, this was only a symbolic gesture, as according to the constitution only the cabinet may file a petition to the Supreme Administrative Court to dissolve a political party. For the first two decades after the end of Communist rule in Czechoslovakia, the party was politically isolated. After the 2012 Czech regional elections, it started participating in coalitions with the Czech Social Democratic Party, forming part of the ruling coalition in 10 out of 13 regions.[13] From 2018 to 2021, KSČM provided parliamentary support to Andrej Babiš' Second Cabinet.[21] [22]

After the party's poor performance in the 2021 Czech legislative election, in which KSČM failed to reach the 5% voting threshold and was excluded from representation in parliament for the first time in its history, Filip resigned as leader of the party.[23] On 23 October 2021, Member of European Parliament Kateřina Konečná was elected as leader.[24]

Ideology

As a communist party and the successor of the former ruling Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, its party platform promotes anti-capitalism[25] and socialism[26] through a Marxist lens.[27] It holds Eurosceptic views in regards to the European Union.[28] [29] [30]

Leaders

width=180Name
(Born–Died)
PortraitTerm of Office
align=center style="background: ; color:white;"1Jiří Machalík
(1945–2014)
31 March 1990 13 October 1990
align=center style="background: ; color:white;"2Jiří Svoboda
(b. 1945)
13 October 1990 25 June 1993
align=center style="background: ; color:white;"3Miroslav Grebeníček
(b. 1947)
25 June 1993 1 October 2005
align=center style="background: ; color:white;"4Vojtěch Filip
(b. 1955)
1 October 2005 9 October 2021
align=center style="background: ; color:white;"5Kateřina Konečná
(b. 1981)
23 October 2021 present

Electoral results

KSČM's strongest bases of support are in the regions hit by deindustrialization, particularly in the Karlovy Vary and Ústí nad Labem regions. In 2012, the party won a regional election for the first time in Ústí nad Labem. Its regional leader Oldřich Bubeníček subsequently became the first communist regional governor in the history of Czech Republic.[31] The party is stronger among older than younger voters, with the majority of its membership over 60. The party is also stronger in small and medium-sized towns than in big cities.

Parliament

Chamber of Deputies

Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic
YearLeaderVotes%Seats±PlacePosition
1990Jiří Machalík954,69013.2New2ndOpposition
1992Jiří Svoboda909,49014.0 22ndOpposition
1996Miroslav Grebeníček626,13610.3 133rdOpposition
1998Miroslav Grebeníček658,55011.0 23rdOpposition
2002Miroslav Grebeníček882,65318.5 173rdOpposition
2006Vojtěch Filip685,32812.8 153rdOpposition
2010Vojtěch Filip589,76511.3 04thOpposition
2013Vojtěch Filip741,04414.9 73rdOpposition
2017Vojtěch Filip393,1007.8 185th
2021Vojtěch Filip193,8173.6 157thNo seats
Notes

Senate

Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic
YearFirst roundSecond roundNo. of seats wonNo. of
overall seats won
±
Votes%Votes%
1996393,49414.345,3042.0New
1998159,12316.531,0975.8 2
2000152,93417.873,37213.0 1
2002110,17116.557,4347.0 0
2004125,89217.465,13613.6 1
2006134,86312.726,0014.5 0
2008147,18614.1did not make itdid not make it 1
2010117,37410.2did not make itdid not make it 1
2012153,33517.479,66315.5 0
201499,9739.74did not make itdid not make it 1
201683,741 9.505,7371.35 0
201880,371 7.383,5780.86 1
202040,994 4.11did not make itdid not make it 0
202217,6121.6did not make itdid not make it 0

European Parliament

ElectionList leaderVotes%Seats+/−EP Group
2004Miloslav Ransdorf472,86220.27 (#4)NewGUE/NGL
2009334,57714.18 (#3) 2
2014Kateřina Konečná166,47810.99 (#4) 1
2019164,6246.94 (#7) 2The Left
2024283,9359.56 (#4) 0NI

Local councils

YearVotes%Seats
199417,413,54513.6
199810,703,97513.7
200211 696 976 14.5
200611,730,24310.8
20108,628,6859.6
20147,730,5037.8
20185,416,9074.9
2022

Regional councils

YearVotes%Seats±Place
2000496,68821.1New3rd
2004416,807 19.7 2nd
2008438,024 15.0 3rd
2012538,953 20.4 2nd
2016267,047 10.6 3rd
2020131,770 4.8 9th

Bibliography

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. [András Bozóki|Bozóki, A]
  2. Web site: STAČILO! a frakce aneb program za koryta nevyměníme!. KSČM. 9 July 2024. 9 July 2024.
  3. Web site: Milan Krajča, Vice-President of the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia(Czech Republic). World Anti-Imperialist Platform. 17 May 2023. 2 December 2023.
  4. Web site: Nordsieck. Wolfram. October 2021. Czechia. Parties and Elections in Europe. 31 October 2021.
  5. Web site: Stranám ubývají členové. Rozrůstají se jen SPD a STAN. ČT24. 18 March 2023. 22 March 2023.
  6. Web site: Seelinger. Lani. Why the Czech Communists are here to stay. visegradrevue.eu. 12 August 2019. 11 July 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20190812203128/http://visegradrevue.eu/why-the-czech-communists-are-here-to-stay/. 12 August 2019. dead.
  7. Pink . Michal . The Electoral Base of Left-Wing Post-Communist Political Parties in the Former Czechoslovakia . Central European Political Studies Review . August 2012 . 14 . 2–3 . 170–192 . 12 August 2019. .
  8. Web site: Kapsas . André . Andrej Babiš et les sociaux-démocrates tchèques négocient leur alliance . Courrier d'Europe centrale . 6 April 2018 . 12 August 2019. fr.
  9. Web site: Lopatka . Jan . New dawn or swan song? Czech communists eye slice of power after decades. Reuters. 12 August 2019. 30 April 2018.
  10. Web site: Elections: What's on the menu. Prague Daily Monitor. 25 October 2013. 25 October 2013. 8 August 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170808041209/http://praguemonitor.com/2013/10/25/elections-whats-menu. dead.
  11. Web site: European United Left & Nordic Green Left European Parliamentary Group delegations. Guengl.eu. 20 August 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20130127184610/http://www.guengl.eu/group/delegations. 27 January 2013. dead.
  12. Web site: Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia. european-left.org. 20 August 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170820073755/http://www.european-left.org/about-el/member-parties/communist-party-bohemia-and-moravia. 20 August 2017. dead.
  13. Web site: ČSSD to rule along with Communists in 10 of 13 Czech regions. Prague Monitor . 1 January 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130415051735/http://praguemonitor.com/2012/12/03/%C4%8Dssd-rule-along-communists-10-13-czech-regions . 15 April 2013 . dead.
  14. Web site: Communists denounce ban on far-left youth movement. Radio Praha. 19 October 2006. 21 December 2017.
  15. Web site: Czech Activists Seek to Outlaw Communist Party. 23 December 2009. The New York Times. 25 May 2016.
  16. Web site: Halonoviny.cz - české levicové zprávy. 25 May 2016. 16 November 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20121116104854/http://www.halonoviny.cz/. dead.
  17. Web site: Kdo jsme. Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia. 27 October 2019. 14 November 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191114205843/https://www.kscm.cz/cs/nase-strana/kdo-jsme. dead.
  18. Book: Thompson, Wayne C. . The World Today Series: Nordic, Central and Southeastern Europe 2008. 2008 . Stryker-Post Publications . Harpers Ferry, West Virginia . 978-1-887985-95-6.
  19. Web site: Czech Communist Youth Union outlawed. 25 October 2006. The Guardian. Communist Party of Australia. 19 December 2017.
  20. Web site: Komunisté ve světě nás nedají, říká o hrozbě rozpuštění šéf KSČM. iDnes, the online portal of Mladá fronta DNES. Czech News Agency. November 2008. 8 November 2008.
  21. Web site: ČSSD v referendu schválila vládu s ANO. Babiš však ještě nemá vyhráno. 2018-06-15. iDNES.cz. 2018-06-24.
  22. Web site: Babiš je podruhé premiérem. Hájil, že vláda bude opřená o komunisty. 2018-06-06. iDNES.cz. 2018-06-24.
  23. Web site: 2021-10-09. Vedení KSČM rezignovalo. Vstanou noví bojovníci, vzkázal Filip. 2021-10-09. iDNES.cz. cs.
  24. Web site: 2021-10-23. Novou šéfkou KSČM se stala Konečná. Vyhrála s velkou převahou. 2021-10-23. Novinky.cz. cs.
  25. Web site: Musíme vést třídní boj a zničit kapitalismus, řekla v Rozstřelu Konečná z KSČM . Idnes.cz. 24 April 2019 . 6 July 2021.
  26. Web site: Kdo jsme. KSČM. 6 July 2021. 19 June 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210619114436/https://www.kscm.cz/cs/nase-strana/kdo-jsme. dead.
  27. Web site: Naděje pro Českou republiku (2006). KSČM. 13 February 2017. 29 March 2016. cs. 13 February 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170213165357/https://www.kscm.cz/sites/default/files/soubory/Program%20KS%C4%8CM/Nadeje_pro_Ceskou_republiku%20%282004%29.pdf. dead.
  28. Web site: How Europe will break on Brexit. Politico.eu. 6 September 2016. 22 June 2016.
  29. Web site: O Brexitu neboli proč by EU měla jít. KSČM. 4 July 2017. 19 July 2016. 10 November 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171110004950/https://www.kscm.cz/cs/aktualne/aktuality/o-brexitu-neboli-proc-eu-mela-jit. dead.
  30. Web site: Krachující Evropská unie a Česká republika. KSČM. 5 July 2017. 9 September 2016. 10 November 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20171110004937/https://www.kscm.cz/cs/aktualne/fakta-argumenty/krachujici-evropska-unie-ceska-republika. dead.
  31. Web site: Oldřich Bubeníček. Novinky.cz. 25 May 2016.