Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia

The Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (Czech: Komunistická strana Čech a Moravy, KSČM) is a communist party[1][2] 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.[12]

Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia Komunistická strana Čech a Moravy
Logo of the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia
Leader	Vojtěch Filip
Deputy Leaders	Petr Šimůnek Stanislav Grospič Kateřina Konečná Václav Ort
Chamber of Deputies Leader	Pavel Kováčik
MEP Leader	Kateřina Konečná
Founded	31 March 1990
Preceded by	Communist Party of Czechoslovakia
Headquarters	Politických vězňů 9, Prague
Newspaper	Haló noviny
Think tank	Institute of the Czech Left
Youth wing	Young Communists
Membership (2020)	31,456
Ideology	Communism[1][2] Marxism[3] Soft Euroscepticism[4][5][6]
Political position	Left-wing[7][8] to far-left[9][10]
European affiliation	Party of the European Left (observer)[11]
International affiliation	International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties
European Parliament group	European United Left–Nordic Green Left[12]
Colours	Red
Chamber of Deputies	15 / 200
Senate	0 / 81
European Parliament	1 / 21
Regional councils	13 / 675
Local councils	1,426 / 62,300
Party flag
Website
http://www.kscm.cz/
Politics of the Czech Republic Political parties Elections

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 adhere to laws adopted after 1989.[13][14] 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.[15] It has never been part of a governing coalition in the executive branch, but provides parliamentary support to Andrej Babiš' Second Cabinet.

The party's youth organisation was banned from 2006 to 2010,[14][16] and there have been calls from other parties to outlaw the main party.[17] Until 2013 it was the only political party in the Czech Republic printing its own newspaper, called Haló noviny.[18]

The party's two cherry logo comes from the song Le Temps des cerises, a revolutionary song associated with the Paris Commune.[19]

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.[20]

In 1990, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia was reorganized as a federation of the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia and the Communist Party of Slovakia. Later, the Communist Party of Slovakia 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."[21] 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.[13] Delegates approved the new program but rejected the name change.[13]

During 1991 and 1992 factional tensions increased, with the party's conservative anti-revisionist wing increasingly vocal in criticizing Svoboda.[13] There was an increase in popularity of the anti-revisionist Marxist–Leninist Clubs amongst rank and file party members.[13] 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.[13] In December 1991 the Democratic Left split off and formed the short-lived Party of Democratic Labour.[13] The referendum on changing the name was held in 1992, with 75.94% voting not to change the name.[13]

The party's second congress, held in Kladno in December 1992, showed the increasing popularity of the party's anti-revisionist wing.[13] It passed resolutions reinterpreting the 1990 program as a "starting point" for the KSČM, rather than a definitive statement of a post-communist program.[13] Svoboda, who was hospitalized due to an attack by an anti-communist, could not attend the congress but was nevertheless overwhelmingly re-elected.[13] 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).[20] 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).[20] Both groups eventually merged into the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS),[22] which does some joint work, and co-operates with the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia.

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.[23] 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.[20]

At the 1993 congress, held in Prostějov, Svoboda's proposals were overwhelmingly rejected by two-thirds majorities.[20] Svoboda did not seek re-election as chairman, and neocommunist Miroslav Grebeníček was elected chairman.[20] 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.[20] 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.[20] Svoboda left the party and eventually joined the ČSSD in 1997.

The expelled members of 'For Socialism' formed the 'Party of Czechoslovak Communists' (later renamed the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia), led by Miroslav Štěpán.[22] 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 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.[24]

After a long-running battle with the Ministry of the Interior, the Communist Youth Union (KSM), the KSCM youth section led by Milan Krajča, was dissolved in 2006, allegedly for endorsing in its program the replacement of private with collective ownership of the means of production.[16] The decision met with international protests.[25]

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 view that the program of KSČM did not reject violence as a means of attaining power and adopted The Communist Manifesto of Karl Marx.[26] However, this was only a symbolic gesture, as according to the Constitution only the Cabinet may file a petition with the Supreme Administrative Court to dissolve a political party.

For the first two decades after the end of Communist rule in Czechoslovakia, the Communist Party was politically isolated. However, after the 2012 regional elections, the party started to participate in coalitions with the Social Democrats, forming part of the ruling coalition in 10 out of 13 regions.[15] Since 2018, the Communists have been providing parliamentary support to Andrej Babiš' Second Cabinet.[27][28]

Popular support and electoral results

The 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.[29] The party is stronger among older voters than younger voters, with the majority of the membership being over 60.[30] The party is also stronger in small and medium-sized towns than in big cities,[31] with Prague consistently being the party's weakest region.

Parliament of the Czech Republic

A protest against the election of communist Zdeněk Ondráček

Worker's Day Meeting in Brno, organized by the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia

Leader Vojtěch Filip

Chamber of Deputies (Lower House)

Chamber of Deputies
Election year	Leader	# of overall votes	% of overall vote	# of overall seats won	±	Place	Position
1990	Jiří Machalík	954,690	13.2	33 / 200		2nd	in opposition
1992	Jiří Svoboda	909,490	14.0[lower-alpha 1]	35 / 200	2	2nd	in opposition
1996	Miroslav Grebeníček	626,136	10.3	22 / 200	13	3rd	in opposition
1998	Miroslav Grebeníček	658,550	11.0	24 / 200	2	3rd	in opposition
2002	Miroslav Grebeníček	882,653	18.5	41 / 200	17	3rd	in opposition
2006	Vojtěch Filip	685,328	12.8	26 / 200	15	3rd	in opposition
2010	Vojtěch Filip	589,765	11.3	26 / 200	0	4th	in opposition
2013	Vojtěch Filip	741,044	14.9	33 / 200	7	3rd	in opposition
2017	Vojtěch Filip	393,100	7.8	15 / 200	18	5th	gov′t support
2021	Vojtěch Filip

Notes:

1. In 1992 KSČM participated in the Left Bloc, an electoral alliance with smaller leftwing groups and independents.[lower-alpha 2]

Senate (Upper House)

Senate
Election year	First Round		Second Round		# of seats won	# 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	2 / 81
1998	159,123	16.5	31,097	5.8	2 / 27	4 / 81	2
2000	152,934	17.8	73,372	13.0	0 / 27	3 / 81	1
2002	110,171	16.5	57,434	7.0	1 / 27	3 / 81	0
2004	125,892	17.4	65,136	13.6	1 / 27	2 / 81	1
2006	134,863	12.7	26,001	4.5	0 / 27	2 / 81	0
2008	147,186	14.1			1 / 27	3 / 81	1
2010	117,374	10.2			0 / 27	2 / 81	1
2012	153,335	17.4	79,663	15.5	1 / 27	2 / 81	0
2014	99,973	9.74			0 / 27	1 / 81	1
2016	83,741	9.50	5,737	1.35	0 / 27	1 / 81	0
2018	80,371	7.38	3,578	0.86	0 / 27	0 / 81	1
2020	40,994	4.11			0 / 27	0 / 81	0

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	2
2014	166,478	11.0	3 / 21	1
2019	164,624	6.9	1 / 21	2

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
2018	5,416,907	4.8	1,426 / 62,300

Regional election

Year	Vote	Vote %	Seats	+/-	Place
2000	496,688	21.1	161 / 675		3rd
2004	416,807	19.7	157 / 675		2nd
2008	438,024	15.0	114 / 675		3rd
2012	538,953	20.4	182 / 675		2nd
2016	267,047	10.6	86 / 675		3rd
2020	131,770	4.8	13 / 675		9th

Leaders

• Jiří Machalík (31 March 1990 - 13 October 1990)
• Jiří Svoboda (13 October 1990 - 25 June 1993)
• Miroslav Grebeníček (26 June 1993 - 1 October 2005)
• Vojtěch Filip (since 1 October 2005)

References

1. Nordsieck, Wolfram (2017). "Czechia". Parties and Elections in Europe.
2. Bozóki, A & Ishiyama, J (2002) The Communist Successor Parties of Central and Eastern Europe, pp150-153
3. "Naděje pro Českou republiku (2006)" (PDF). kscm.cz (in Czech). 29 March 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
4. "How Europe will break on Brexit". Politico.eu. 22 June 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2016.
5. "O Brexitu neboli proč by EU měla jít". kscm.cz. 19 July 2016. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
6. "Krachující Evropská unie a Česká republika". kscm.cz. 9 September 2016. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
7. Seelinger, Lani (11 July 2014). "Why the Czech Communists are here to stay". visegradrevue.eu. Archived from the original on 12 August 2019. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
8. Pink, Michal. "The Electoral Base of Left-Wing Post-Communist Political Parties in the Former Czechoslovakia". Central European Political Studies Review. Retrieved 12 August 2019..
9. Kapsas, André (6 April 2018). "Andrej Babiš et les sociaux-démocrates tchèques négocient leur alliance". Courrier d'Europe centrale (in French). Retrieved 12 August 2019..
10. Lopatka, Jan (30 April 2018). "New dawn or swan song? Czech communists eye slice of power after decades". Reuters. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
11. "Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia". european-left.org. Archived from the original on 20 August 2017. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
12. "European United Left & Nordic Green Left European Parliamentary Group delegations". www-guengl.eu. Archived from the original on 27 January 2013. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
13. Bozóki & Ishiyama, p146
14. "Elections: What's on the menu (in English)". Prague Daily Monitor. 25 October 2013. Retrieved 25 October 2013.
15. "ČSSD to rule along with Communists in 10 of 13 Czech regions | Prague Monitor". Archived from the original on 15 April 2013. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
16. "Communists denounce ban on far-left youth movement". Radio Praha. 19 October 2006. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
17. "Czech Activists Seek to Outlaw Communist Party". The New York Times. 23 December 2009. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
18. "Halonoviny.cz - české levicové zprávy". Retrieved 25 May 2016.
19. "Kdo jsme". Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
20. Bozóki & Ishiyama, p147
21. Bozóki & Ishiyama, pp145-146
22. Bozóki & Ishiyama, p157
23. Bozóki & Ishiyama, pp146-147
24. 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.
25. "Czech Communist Youth Union outlawed". The Guardian. Communist Party of Australia. 25 October 2006. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
26. 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.
27. "ČSSD v referendu schválila vládu s ANO. Babiš však ještě nemá vyhráno". iDNES.cz. 15 June 2018. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
28. "Babiš je podruhé premiérem. Hájil, že vláda bude opřená o komunisty". iDNES.cz. 6 June 2018. Retrieved 24 June 2018.
29. "Oldřich Bubeníček". Novinky.cz. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
30. Bozóki & Ishiyama, p155
31. Bozóki & Ishiyama, p156

External links

• Dan Hough, William E. Paterson and James Sloam (eds.) Learning from the West? Policy Transfer and Programmatic Change in the Communist Successor Parties of East Central Europe. London: Routledge, 2005 (in English)

• KSČM website
• Communist Youth Union website