The Civic Democratic Party ( cs, Občanská demokratická strana, ODS) is a
liberal-conservative
Liberal conservatism is a political ideology combining conservative policies with liberal stances, especially on economic issues but also on social and ethical matters, representing a brand of political conservatism strongly influenced by libe ...
and
soft eurosceptic political party in the Czech Republic. It holds 34 seats in the
Chamber of Deputies
The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures.
Description
Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...
, and is the second strongest party by number of seats following the
2021 election. It is the only political party in the Czech Republic that has always been represented in the Chamber of Deputies.
Founded in 1991 as the pro-
free market
In economics, a free market is an economic system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of government or any ot ...
wing of the
Civic Forum by
Václav Klaus
Václav Klaus (; born 19 June 1941) is a Czech economist and politician who served as the second president of the Czech Republic from 2003 to 2013. From July 1992 until the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in January 1993, he served as the second ...
and modeled on the
British Conservative Party
The Conservative Party, officially the Conservative and Unionist Party and also known colloquially as the Tories, is one of the two main political parties in the United Kingdom, along with the Labour Party. It is the current governing party, ...
, the ODS won the
1992 legislative election, and has remained in government for most of the Czech Republic's independence. In every legislative election (except for
that of 2013) it emerged as one of the two strongest parties. Václav Klaus served as the first
Prime Minister of the Czech Republic
The prime minister of the Czech Republic ( Czech: ''Předseda vlády České republiky'') is the head of the government of the Czech Republic. The prime minister is the de-facto leader of the executive branch, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ...
after the partition of
Czechoslovakia
, rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי,
, common_name = Czechoslovakia
, life_span = 1918–19391945–1992
, p1 = Austria-Hungary
, image_p1 ...
, from 1993 to 1997.
Mirek Topolánek
Mirek Topolánek (, born 15 May 1956) is a Czech politician and business manager who served as the prime minister of the Czech Republic from 2006 to 2009 and the leader of the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) from 2002 to 2010. Between 2006 and 2 ...
, who succeeded him as leader of the party in December 2002, served as Prime Minister from 2006 to 2009. In the
2010 election, the party lost 28 seats, finishing second, but as the largest party right of the centre, it formed a centre-right government with
Petr Nečas as Prime Minister. In the
2013 legislative election, the party was marginalized by only securing 16 seats in the Chamber of Deputies, relegating the party to the opposition from July 2013 to December 2021. In the
2017 legislative election, it has partly recovered and secured 25 seats in the
Chamber of Deputies
The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures.
Description
Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...
, making it the second strongest party in chamber. The party is currently being led by the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic
Petr Fiala, who has been leader since the
2014 party convention.
The ODS is a member of the
International Democratic Union, and co-founded together with the
British Conservatives the
eurosceptic
Euroscepticism, also spelled as Euroskepticism or EU-scepticism, is a political position involving criticism of the European Union (EU) and European integration. It ranges from those who oppose some EU institutions and policies, and seek refor ...
European Conservatives and Reformists Party (ECR Party) and the
European Conservatives and Reformists
The European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) is a soft Eurosceptic, anti- federalist political group of the European Parliament. The ECR is the parliamentary group of the European Conservatives and Reformists Party (ECR Party) European ...
(ECR group) in the
European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the Legislature, legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven Institutions of the European Union, institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and in ...
.
History
Formation
The party was founded in 1991 as one of two successors to the
Civic Forum, which was a
big tent
A big tent party, or catch-all party, is a term used in reference to a political party's policy of permitting or encouraging a broad spectrum of views among its members. This is in contrast to other kinds of parties, which defend a determined i ...
movement that consisted of two major wings. The strongest wing was the
Interparliamentary Club of the Democratic Right which was transformed into the ODS when Civic Forum split.
ODS represented followers of
Václav Klaus
Václav Klaus (; born 19 June 1941) is a Czech economist and politician who served as the second president of the Czech Republic from 2003 to 2013. From July 1992 until the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in January 1993, he served as the second ...
and was pro-free market, as opposed to the centrist
Civic Movement. An agreement was reached to split the party in half at the Civic Forum Assembly on 23 February 1991. This was followed on 21 April by a formal declaration of a new party, and Klaus was elected its first President. The party agreed to continue in a coalition government with the Civic Movement, but this collapsed in July 1991.
The Civic Democrats, who represented demands for a tighter
Czechoslovak federation, began to
organize in Slovakia.
[Hanley (2008), p. 96] Ahead of the
1992 election, the ODS ruled out an
electoral alliance
An electoral alliance (also known as a bipartisan electoral agreement, electoral pact, electoral agreement, electoral coalition or electoral bloc) is an association of political parties or individuals that exists solely to stand in elections.
E ...
with the
Liberal Democrats, but agreed to an alliance with
Václav Benda's
Christian Democratic Party
__NOTOC__
Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social tea ...
(KDS) to boost its appeal to conservatives.
The ODS won the election, winning 66 seats (and the KDS another ten), and formed a centre-right coalition with the
Civic Democratic Alliance
The Civic Democratic Alliance ( cs, Občanská demokratická aliance, ODA) was a conservative-liberal political party in the Czech Republic, active between 1989 (founded shortly after the Velvet revolution) and 2007. The ODA was part of govern ...
(ODA) and the
KDU-ČSL
KDU-ČSL (In Czech, the initials of the Christian and Democratic Union – Czechoslovak People's Party; cs, Křesťanská a demokratická unie – Československá strana lidová), often shortened to ('the populars') is a Christian-democrati ...
, with Klaus as
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...
.
Dominant party (1992–1998)
It was the dominant party in two coalition governments in the Czech Republic from 1992 to 1997, a majority administration (1992–96) and a short-lived minority government (1996–97).
On 2 June 1995, the ODS and KDS signed a merger agreement, which would come into effect on 18 March 1996, ahead of
that year's election. However, at the election, whilst the ODS improved to 68 seats, its allies fell, leading to the government receiving only 99 seats: two short of a majority. Klaus continued with a minority government, relying on its acceptance by the
Social Democratic Party
The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology.
Active parties
For ...
(ČSSD).
In December 1997, allegations of the party receiving illegal donations and maintaining a secret
slush fund
A slush fund is a fund or account that is not properly accounted, such as money used for corrupt or illegal purposes, especially in the political sphere. Such funds may be kept hidden and maintained separately from money that is used for legitim ...
caused the ODA and KDU-ČSL to withdraw from the coalition, and the government collapsed.
Josef Tošovský was appointed
caretaker, pending
new elections in June 1998. Despite the scandal, Klaus was re-elected party chairman. In January 1998, some legislators opposed to Klaus, led by
Jan Ruml and
Ivan Pilip, left the party in the so-called '
Sarajevo Assassination
Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, were assassinated on 28 June 1914 by Bosnian Serb student Gavrilo Princip. They were shot at close range while b ...
' and formed the
Freedom Union (US).
Opposition agreement
At the elections, the ODS fell even further, to 63 seats, while the US won 19. Due to the split, the Freedom Union refused to support the ODS, preventing them from getting a majority; the US's executive also refused to support the ČSSD. As a result, on 9 July 1998, the ODS signed the
Opposition Agreement, which pledged the party to provide
confidence and maintain a ČSSD government under
Miloš Zeman
Miloš Zeman (; born 28 September 1944) is a Czech politician serving as the third and current President of the Czech Republic since 2013. He previously served as the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic from 1998 to 2002. As leader of the Cze ...
. This agreement was then superseded by the more explicit 'Patent of Tolerance' in January 2000.
Opposition (2002–2006)
In the
2002 legislative election, the party went from being the largest seat holder to being the second largest party in the
Chamber of Deputies
The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures.
Description
Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...
with 58 of 200 seats, and for the first time in its history assumed the role of a true
opposition party.
Mirek Topolánek
Mirek Topolánek (, born 15 May 1956) is a Czech politician and business manager who served as the prime minister of the Czech Republic from 2006 to 2009 and the leader of the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) from 2002 to 2010. Between 2006 and 2 ...
took over the party leadership. The former Czech president,
Václav Klaus
Václav Klaus (; born 19 June 1941) is a Czech economist and politician who served as the second president of the Czech Republic from 2003 to 2013. From July 1992 until the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in January 1993, he served as the second ...
, has been the party's honorary president for his first term in the office. In the European Parliament elections in June 2004 and in Senate and regional assembly elections in November 2004, it received over 30% of the votes.
Return to government (2006–2013)
In the
2006 legislative election the ODS was the largest seat holder in the Chamber of Deputies with 81 seats. ODS originally aimed to make a deal with
Czech Social Democratic Party
The Czech Social Democratic Party ( cs, Česká strana sociálně demokratická, ČSSD, ) is a social-democratic political party in the Czech Republic. Sitting on the centre-left of the political spectrum and holding pro-European views, it is a ...
but talks with the Social democratic leader
Jiří Paroubek
Jiří Paroubek (; born 21 August 1952) is a Czech politician, who was the prime minister of the Czech Republic from April 2005 to August 2006. He was also the leader of the Czech Social Democratic Party (ČSSD) from 2006 until his resignation f ...
were unsuccessful. Mirek Topolánek then introduced
his first minority cabinet that consisted of Civic Democrats and independents. It was designated on 4 September 2006 but lost a vote of confidence on 3 October 2006.
ODS then formed a
government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government i ...
in coalition with the
Populars (KDU-ČSL) and the
Green Party
A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence.
Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...
(SZ). Projects of the cabinet included reform of public finances. Topolánek also discussed possible emplacement of United States
Missile defense
Missile defense is a system, weapon, or technology involved in the detection, tracking, interception, and also the destruction of attacking missiles. Conceived as a defense against nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), ...
in the Czech Republic which resulted in public resistance.
The party suffered heavy losses in regional and Senate elections in 2008, losing all 12 regional governorships it had previously held. However, a year later, ODS won the
European Parliament election, keeping all 9 seats and gaining more votes than in previous elections.
ODS-led government during Czech
Presidency of the Council of the European Union 2009. Czech presidency had to deal with problems such as
Gas crisis in Ukraine, conflict in Gaza or economic crisis. There were also controversies like
Entropa but some aspects such as resolution of gas crisis were positively evaluated.
The Cabinet had lost a no confidence vote on 24 March 2009. The country was then governed by a newly formed
caretaker Cabinet, which was nominated by ODS, ČSSD and SZ. Early elections were set for 9–10 October 2009 but were postponed to May 2010 due to unexpected developments in the Constitutional Court and House of Deputies
Civic Democratic Party won the second place after Czech Social Democratic Party and formed
a centre-right Government with
TOP 09
TOP 09 (name derived from cs, Tradice Odpovědnost Prosperita, lit=Tradition Responsibility Prosperity) is a liberal-conservative political party in the Czech Republic, led by Markéta Pekarová Adamová. TOP 09 holds 14 seats in the Chamber ...
and
Public Affairs. Public Affairs split from the government on 22 April 2012 but were replaced by
LIDEM. The Civic Democratic Party was widely
defeated in the regional election that same year, finishing third overall and winning only in the Plzeň region. The party also lost 2010 and
2012 Senate elections.
ODS nominated
Přemysl Sobotka for president of the Czech Republic during the 2013 presidential election. Sobotka received only 2.46% of votes and didn't qualify for second round. ODS has held
2012 presidential primaries which Přemysl Sobotka has won. Sobotka's poor showing in the 2013 general election was seen as caused by the government's unpopularity and lack of support from the party. The party's leadership supported
Karel Schwarzenberg
Prince Karel of Schwarzenberg (, born 10 December 1937) is a Czech politician, former leader of the TOP 09 party and was its candidate for president of the Czech Republic in the 2013 election. He served as a member of the Chamber of Deputies ( ...
of
TOP 09
TOP 09 (name derived from cs, Tradice Odpovědnost Prosperita, lit=Tradition Responsibility Prosperity) is a liberal-conservative political party in the Czech Republic, led by Markéta Pekarová Adamová. TOP 09 holds 14 seats in the Chamber ...
in the second round of the presidential election.
Opposition (2013–2017)
After resignation and fall of
Cabinet of Prime Minister Petr Nečas ODS proposed
Miroslava Němcová
Miroslava Němcová (née Daňková; born 17 November 1952) is a Czech politician who served as 6th Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic from 2010 to 2013. She was a member of the Chamber of Deputies from 1998 to 2020. In 2 ...
to the position of the
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...
to
President Zeman saying that she will be able to form a coalition and succeed a
vote of confidence
A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or m ...
in the
Chamber of Deputies
The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures.
Description
Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...
. However, President Zeman refused to appoint her and instead appointed
Jiří Rusnok's Cabinet. After that, opposition called for a dissolution of Chamber of Deputies and early election (such vote was only recently made possible by a constitutional amendment). The motion of dissolution passed with 147 out of 200 votes (120 required), all parties except ODS, whose deputies left the chamber, voted for dissolution, including their former coalition partners
Public Affairs and
TOP 09
TOP 09 (name derived from cs, Tradice Odpovědnost Prosperita, lit=Tradition Responsibility Prosperity) is a liberal-conservative political party in the Czech Republic, led by Markéta Pekarová Adamová. TOP 09 holds 14 seats in the Chamber ...
. President Zeman then called on
early elections on 25–26 October 2013. ODS suffered heavy losses. It gained only 16 seats and finished 5th. The party also lost elections of the
European parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the Legislature, legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven Institutions of the European Union, institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and in ...
and of
Senate and municipal in 2014.
The 24th Congress of the Civic Democratic Party elected on 18–19 January 2014 a new leadership of ODS. The former rector of
Masaryk University
Masaryk University (MU) ( cs, Masarykova univerzita; la, Universitas Masarykiana Brunensis) is the second largest university in the Czech Republic, a member of the Compostela Group and the Utrecht Network. Founded in 1919 in Brno as the se ...
and minister
Petr Fiala was elected as chairman.
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament.
When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...
Jan Zahradil was elected as first-vice-chairman. In his book ''Citizens, Democrats and Party Members'' (
Czech: ''Občané, demokraté a straníci''), Fiala said the party needs to be attractive to new, young people and ODS shall have experts on economics, health care, education, etc.
In the Chamber of Deputies ODS formed an informal coalition relationship with
TOP 09
TOP 09 (name derived from cs, Tradice Odpovědnost Prosperita, lit=Tradition Responsibility Prosperity) is a liberal-conservative political party in the Czech Republic, led by Markéta Pekarová Adamová. TOP 09 holds 14 seats in the Chamber ...
and both have been opposing laws such as Control report of
Value-added tax
A value-added tax (VAT), known in some countries as a goods and services tax (GST), is a type of tax that is assessed incrementally. It is levied on the price of a product or service at each stage of production, distribution, or sale to the en ...
. On 26 May 2015, ODS, TOP 09 and
Dawn of Direct Democracy called an unsuccessful
vote of no confidence of the Cabinet of Bohuslav Sobotka.
As of December 2015 opinion polls showed ODS with 8.6% nationwide. Some polling agencies and political commentators are of the opinion that ODS was on the path to become main centre-right party again.
On 16 January 2016, Fiala was re-elected as Leader of the ODS. ODS participated in
2016 regional and
Senate election. It received about 10% of votes and its candidate's secured seats in all regions. 6 candidates nominated by ODS qualified for the second round for Senate. 4 of them were eventually elected Fiala then said that ODS returned to the position of the major right wing party.
Opposition and formal cooperation with TOP 09 and KDU-ČSL (2017-2021)
ODS agreed to participate in the
2017 legislative election together with
Freeholder party. Parties will present themselves during the campaign as ''ODS with the support of Freeholders''. This agreement means that Freeholders will take 40 places on ODS candidacy list. In February 2017, ODS started a campaign called "We create program." which was series of tours to Czech regions with party leaders discussing priorities with supporters and potential voters for an upcoming election.
On 19 April 2017, ODS introduced its tax program. The Civic Democrats want to lower taxes which they say would increase the income of Czech citizens. ODS also wants to decrease spending in social benefits and subsidies. Chief Whip
Zbyněk Stanjura said that many people take advantage of social benefits even though they don't deserve it. These plans resembled those that ODS had in the
2006 legislative election manifesto.
Tours concluded with Conference "Strong program for Strong Czechia" held on 22 April where ODS presented their election manifesto and candidates.
Following the
2017 Czech government crisis, ODS grew in polls, approaching the
Czech Social Democratic Party
The Czech Social Democratic Party ( cs, Česká strana sociálně demokratická, ČSSD, ) is a social-democratic political party in the Czech Republic. Sitting on the centre-left of the political spectrum and holding pro-European views, it is a ...
.
According to a poll by TNS Kantar, ODS would become the second strongest party, surpassing ČSSD and KSČM. ODS introduced its campaign for 2017 election on 29 May 2017. It is inspired by the British
Conservative Party's campaign for
2017 general election.
In the 2017 election, ODS sought to get more than 10%.
According to poll by STEM/Mark in September. ODS would get 7.5% of votes.
ODS received 11% in 2017 legislative election and became the second largest political party in the Czech Republic.
The party then won
2018 Senate election confirming its position as the main right wing party.
Civic Democratic Party,
KDU-ČSL
KDU-ČSL (In Czech, the initials of the Christian and Democratic Union – Czechoslovak People's Party; cs, Křesťanská a demokratická unie – Československá strana lidová), often shortened to ('the populars') is a Christian-democrati ...
and
TOP 09
TOP 09 (name derived from cs, Tradice Odpovědnost Prosperita, lit=Tradition Responsibility Prosperity) is a liberal-conservative political party in the Czech Republic, led by Markéta Pekarová Adamová. TOP 09 holds 14 seats in the Chamber ...
formed bloc of conservative opposition parties in late 2020. The alliance was known as the "Three Coalition", before the parties launched their slogan and program on 9 December 2020, announcing that they would run under the name
Spolu ("together") in the
2021 Czech legislative election.
The conservative bloc announced that Petr Fiala would be their candidate for the post of
prime minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...
.
The Bloc ran in
2021 Czech legislative election with Fiala as a leader. Opinion polls suggested that
ANO 2011 would win the election but in an electoral upset ODS-led Spolu won highest number of votes and opposition parties won majority of seats in the Chamber of Deputies.
Opposition parties signed memorandum agreeing to nominate ODS leader Fiala for the position of the new Prime Minister.
Back in power (since 2021)
ODS formed coalition government with
STAN,
KDU-ČSL
KDU-ČSL (In Czech, the initials of the Christian and Democratic Union – Czechoslovak People's Party; cs, Křesťanská a demokratická unie – Československá strana lidová), often shortened to ('the populars') is a Christian-democrati ...
,
TOP 09
TOP 09 (name derived from cs, Tradice Odpovědnost Prosperita, lit=Tradition Responsibility Prosperity) is a liberal-conservative political party in the Czech Republic, led by Markéta Pekarová Adamová. TOP 09 holds 14 seats in the Chamber ...
and
Piráti after the election. Petr Fiala became the new Prime Minister. ODS holds 6 seats in
Fiala's Cabinet.
Ideology
The ODS is described as
liberal-conservative
Liberal conservatism is a political ideology combining conservative policies with liberal stances, especially on economic issues but also on social and ethical matters, representing a brand of political conservatism strongly influenced by libe ...
,
conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
,
and
conservative-liberal,
supports
economic liberalism
Economic liberalism is a political and economic ideology that supports a market economy based on individualism and private property in the means of production. Adam Smith is considered one of the primary initial writers on economic libera ...
,
and is
Eurosceptic
Euroscepticism, also spelled as Euroskepticism or EU-scepticism, is a political position involving criticism of the European Union (EU) and European integration. It ranges from those who oppose some EU institutions and policies, and seek refor ...
.
There are also multiple ideological factions in the party, including the
national conservative faction,
the
national liberal faction,
the
neoconservative faction and the Christian
socially conservative faction (former
Christian Democratic Party
__NOTOC__
Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social tea ...
).
The party's ideas are very close to those of the
British Conservative Party
The Conservative Party, officially the Conservative and Unionist Party and also known colloquially as the Tories, is one of the two main political parties in the United Kingdom, along with the Labour Party. It is the current governing party, ...
, Swedish
Moderate Party
The Moderate Party ( sv, Moderata samlingspartiet , ; M), commonly referred to as the Moderates ( ), is a liberal-conservative political party in Sweden. The party generally supports tax cuts, the free market, civil liberties and economic ...
, and other liberal-conservative parties in Europe. The basic principles of the party's program are "low taxes, public finances and future without debts, support for families with children, addressable social system, reducing bureaucracy, better conditions for business, a safe state with the transatlantic links. No tricks and populism."
Many prominent politicians in the party openly oppose
political correctness
''Political correctness'' (adjectivally: ''politically correct''; commonly abbreviated ''PC'') is a term used to describe language, policies, or measures that are intended to avoid offense or disadvantage to members of particular groups in socie ...
and call for tougher measures to combat radical Islam which they liken to Nazism.
Although the party was in power when the
Treaty of Lisbon
The Treaty of Lisbon (initially known as the Reform Treaty) is an international agreement that amends the two treaties which form the constitutional basis of the European Union (EU). The Treaty of Lisbon, which was signed by the EU member s ...
was ratified in the Czech Republic, ODS supports maintaining Czech sovereignty and integrity against the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...
, calls for a fundamental reform of the EU and strongly opposes any federalization of Europe in the form of the EU becoming a quasi-state entity.
Following the EU referendum in Britain which resulted in the United Kingdom voting to leave, ODS leader
Petr Fiala said the Czech Republic "should reconsider its priorities and strategy in the European Union" and if the
Treaties
A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between actors in international law. It is usually made by and between sovereign states, but can include international organizations, individuals, business entities, and other legal pers ...
were to be re-opened, negotiate new conditions for the country such as an opt-out from asylum rules as well as from the obligation to adopt the euro. The party is a member of the national-conservative
European Conservatives and Reformists
The European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) is a soft Eurosceptic, anti- federalist political group of the European Parliament. The ECR is the parliamentary group of the European Conservatives and Reformists Party (ECR Party) European ...
group.
The ODS is against immigration. The party supports compulsory measures for immigrants to speak the Czech language, learn about Czech history and adapt to local customs and cultures.
ODS is also opposed to compulsory EU migrant quotas by arguing that the Czech Republic should have sovereignty over its own border control and that forcing nations to take in migrants without sufficient vetting or orderly processing and integration poses a threat to national security, social cohesion and native European culture. ODS believes that all individual nations should have the right to determine their own immigration policies.
ODS also supports the
right of law abiding citizens to own and carry firearms, being the main reason
Czech gun laws are much more liberal than in nearly all other European countries. This makes them different from parties they are based on, as most of them, especially British Conservatives, reject the idea that anyone has a right to own and carry firearms and other weapons, making the ODS much more similar to American
Republicans in this matter, although they still support gun control measures (such as background checks, licenses and registration). ODS, especially its defense expert
Jana Černochová
Jana Černochová (born 26 October 1973) is a Czech politician, serving as Czech Minister of Defence in the Cabinet of Petr Fiala since December 2021. She has been a member of the Czech parliament since 2010, representing the Civic Democratic P ...
, was one of the main supporters of embedding the right to keep and bear arms for the purposes of national security into the Czech constitution, although it was
Social Democrat
Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote soc ...
Milan Chovanec who originally proposed it. The amendment failed in the Senate. In 2021 a same bill passed.
Symbols
Name
Václav Klaus stated that party's name represents the fact that ODS is based on the idea of the civic freedoms. It also shows that ODS is a Civic Party, which differentiates it from other parties that existed prior to 1991. The adjective Democratic represents that ODS should protect parliamentary democracy.
Besides its official name, ODS also received some informal names from media. Party members are sometimes called ''"the Blues"'' or the ''"Blue Birds"'' and ODS is sometimes called the ''Blue Party'' due to party's association with the color blue.
Logo
The first logo was introduced on 4 June 1991, created by Aleš Krejča. It was chosen from over 250 entries to a public competition.
A new logo was introduced in 1992, including the silhouette of a bird in blue. The logo was created by Petr Šejdl. In 1994 when the bird's tail was shortened and in 1998 the font was changed as a result of the "Sarajevo betrayal" of autumn 1997, in which ODS colleagues used allegations of bribery to precipitate the resignation of
Václav Klaus
Václav Klaus (; born 19 June 1941) is a Czech economist and politician who served as the second president of the Czech Republic from 2003 to 2013. From July 1992 until the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in January 1993, he served as the second ...
' government while he was on a trip to Sarajevo.
The party used this version until 2015 with modifications for individual election campaigns.
The ODS introduced a new party logo in a congress in Prague in 2015. The design of the bird was updated and flies upwards rather than to the left. The logo was designed by Libor Jelínek.
ODS logo 1991-1992.jpg, Party logo, 1991–1992
ODS Teillogo.svg, Party symbol, 1994–2015
Logo_of_ODS_(2015).svg, Current logo, since 2015
Organisation
Party structure
The highest body of the ODS is Congress which meets every year and elects leadership every two years. The party is led by the Executive Council and Republic Assembly in time between meetings of Congress. The executive body meets every Month and the party is led by Panel between meetings of the Executive Council. Panel consists of Party's Leader, Deputy Leaders and
Chief Whip
The Chief Whip is a political leader whose task is to enforce the whipping system, which aims to ensure that legislators who are members of a political party attend and vote on legislation as the party leadership prescribes.
United Kingdom
...
s of the Parliamentary ODS.
ODS is structured similarly to the subdivisions of the Czech Republic. The structure consists of local associations. Group of local associations forms area. Areas are organised as parts of Region.
Membership
ODS had 18,500 Members in 1991. The number of members grew with the party's influence and soon rose to over 23,000. It decreased during political crisis in 1998 to 16,000. The party stopped the decrease after preliminary election and membership grew once again. It peaked in 2010 when it reached 31,011. The member base started to decline rapidly after 2010. It had only 17,994 members prior the
2013 election. ODS had 14,771 members in May 2015 and the member base was stabilised according to leaders of the party.
The party runs a membership organisation known as Supporters of ODS. It is a looser form of involvement with the party. It is meant for people who doesn't want to be members of ODS but sympathize with its program.
It replaced the organisation known as
Blue Team
Faces of ODS is a project of party's members who share their life's story. It was described as honour for all members of the party who didn't abandon it in hard times.
Young Conservatives
Young Conservatives ( cs, Mladí konzervativci, MK) is a youth wing of ODS. Young people from the age of 15 to 35 can apply for a membership in the MK. The founding congress of MK was held on 8 December 1991 as a result of previous preparations through Charter of Young Conservatives by a group of students at the University of Technology in Brno and Law Students' Association "Všehrd" from Faculty of Law at the Charles University. The Young Conservatives organize a wide range of events from meetings with local or national politicians to elections campaigns and international events.
CEVRO Liberal Conservative Academy
CEVRO Liberal Conservative Academy ( cs, CEVRO Liberálně konzervativní akademie) is a think-tank affiliated with ODS. It was established in 1999. Its goal is political education which tries to spread liberal-conservative thinking. In 2005, CEVRO established its own private university known as
CEVRO Institute. CEVRO has four newspapers – ''CEVRO Revue'', ''The Week in European Politics'', ''The Week in Czech Politics'' and ''Forthnightly''.
International organisations
ODS joined the
European Democrat Union (EDU) in 1992 as one of the first parties in the former
Eastern Bloc
The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...
. Václav Klaus even became a Vice President of EDU. ODS remained in the EDU until it became part of the
European People's Party
The European People's Party (EPP) is a European political party with Christian-democratic, conservative, and liberal-conservative member parties. A transnational organisation, it is composed of other political parties. Founded by primarily ...
(EPP) in 2002. ODS refused to join EPP due to its ideological differences and instead became a member of
European Democrats.
ODS joined
International Democrat Union (IDU) in 2001.
Chairmen of Civic Democratic Party served as Vice-presidents of IDU.
In July 2006, the Civic Democratic Party signed an agreement with the
British Conservative Party
The Conservative Party, officially the Conservative and Unionist Party and also known colloquially as the Tories, is one of the two main political parties in the United Kingdom, along with the Labour Party. It is the current governing party, ...
to leave the
European People's Party–European Democrats
The European People's Party Group (EPP Group) is a centre-right political group of the European Parliament consisting of deputies (MEPs) from the member parties of the European People's Party (EPP). Sometimes it also includes independent MEPs ...
(EPP-ED) Group in the
European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the Legislature, legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven Institutions of the European Union, institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and in ...
and form the
Movement for European Reform in 2009. On 22 June 2009, it was announced that ODS would join the newly formed
European Conservatives and Reformists
The European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) is a soft Eurosceptic, anti- federalist political group of the European Parliament. The ECR is the parliamentary group of the European Conservatives and Reformists Party (ECR Party) European ...
(ECR) parliamentary group, an anti-federalist and Eurosceptic group, which currently its third largest bloc in the European Parliament. ODS then became one of founding members of the European Conservatives and Reformists Party (ECR Party), a conservative and Eurosceptic European political party, defending broader conservative and economically liberal principles. Other members of ECR Party include
Conservative Party
The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right.
Political parties called The Conservative P ...
,
Law and Justice
Law and Justice ( pl, Prawo i Sprawiedliwość , PiS) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Poland. Its chairman is Jarosław Kaczyński.
It was founded in 2001 by Jarosław and Lech Kaczyński as a direct s ...
or
Freedom and Solidarity.
Leadership
Current
Leaders
''Note: Only properly elected leaders are included.''
Election results
Chamber of Deputies
ImageSize = width:300 height:150
PlotArea = width:275 height:125 left:25 bottom:20
AlignBars = justify
Colors =
id:ODS value:rgb(0,0.531,0.813)
DateFormat = yyyy
Period = from:0 till:100
TimeAxis = orientation:vertical
ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:20 start:0
PlotData=
bar:Seats color:ODS width:24 mark:(line,white) align:left fontsize:S
bar:1992 color:ODS from:start till:66 text:66 align:center
bar:1996 color:ODS from:start till:68 text:68 align:center
bar:1998 color:ODS from:start till:63 text:63 align:center
bar:2002 color:ODS from:start till:58 text:58 align:center
bar:2006 color:ODS from:start till:81 text:81 align:center
bar:2010 color:ODS from:start till:53 text:53 align:center
bar:2013 color:ODS from:start till:16 text:16 align:center
bar:2017 color:ODS from:start till:25 text:25 align:center
bar:2021 color:ODS from:start till:34 text:34 align:center
ImageSize = width:300 height:150
PlotArea = width:275 height:125 left:25 bottom:20
AlignBars = justify
Colors =
id:ODS value:rgb(0,0.531,0.813)
DateFormat = yyyy
Period = from:0 till:400
TimeAxis = orientation:vertical
ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:50 start:0
PlotData=
bar:Vote% color:ODS width:24 mark:(line,white) align:left fontsize:S
bar:1992 color:ODS from:start till:297 text:29.7 align:center
bar:1996 color:ODS from:start till:296 text:29.6 align:center
bar:1998 color:ODS from:start till:277 text:27.7 align:center
bar:2002 color:ODS from:start till:245 text:24.5 align:center
bar:2006 color:ODS from:start till:353 text:35.3 align:center
bar:2010 color:ODS from:start till:202 text:20.2 align:center
bar:2013 color:ODS from:start till:77 text:7.7 align:center
bar:2017 color:ODS from:start till:113 text:11.3 align:center
bar:2021 color:ODS from:start till:278 text:27.8 align:center
Senate
* Places are by number of votes gained.
Presidential
Indirect Elections
Direct Election
European Parliament
ImageSize = width:250 height:100
PlotArea = width:225 height:75 left:25 bottom:20
AlignBars = justify
Colors =
id:ODS value:rgb(0,0.531,0.813)
DateFormat = yyyy
Period = from:0 till:15
TimeAxis = orientation:vertical
ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:5 start:0
PlotData=
bar:Seats color:ODS width:24 mark:(line,white) align:left fontsize:S
bar:2004 color:ODS from:start till:9 text:9 align:center
bar:2009 color:ODS from:start till:9 text:9 align:center
bar:2014 color:ODS from:start till:2 text:2 align:center
ImageSize = width:250 height:100
PlotArea = width:225 height:75 left:25 bottom:20
AlignBars = justify
Colors =
id:ODS value:rgb(0,0.531,0.813)
DateFormat = yyyy
Period = from:0 till:500
TimeAxis = orientation:vertical
ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:200 start:0
PlotData=
bar:Vote% color:ODS width:24 mark:(line,white) align:left fontsize:S
bar:2004 color:ODS from:start till:300 text:30.0 align:center
bar:2009 color:ODS from:start till:315 text:31.5 align:center
bar:2014 color:ODS from:start till:77 text:7.7 align:center
Local election
Regional election
2020 Czech regional election results
Prague municipal elections
Federal Assembly of Czechoslovakia
House of the People
House of Nations
Elected representatives
Civic Democratic Party has 23 members of the
Chamber of Deputies
The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures.
Description
Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...
.
*
Ivan Adamec
*
Jan Bauer
*
Martin Baxa
*
Petr Beitl
*
Marek Benda
*
Petr Bendl
*
Stanislav Blaha
*
Pavel Blažek
*
Jana Černochová
Jana Černochová (born 26 October 1973) is a Czech politician, serving as Czech Minister of Defence in the Cabinet of Petr Fiala since December 2021. She has been a member of the Czech parliament since 2010, representing the Civic Democratic P ...
*
Petr Fiala
*
Jakub Janda
Jakub Janda (; born 27 April 1978) is a Czech politician and former ski jumper. In ski jumping he competed from 1996 to 2017, winning the 2005/06 World Cup and 2005/06 Four Hills Tournament (shared with Janne Ahonen), as well as silver and br ...
*
Martin Kupka
Martin Kupka (born 28 October 1975) is a Czech politician who has been a member of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic, Chamber of Deputies (MP) since 2017. He is currently serving as Ministry of Transport (Czech Republic), Minister of T ...
*
Karel Krejza
*
Jaroslav Martinů
*
Ilona Mauritzová
*
Vojtěch Munzar
*
Miroslava Němcová
Miroslava Němcová (née Daňková; born 17 November 1952) is a Czech politician who served as 6th Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic from 2010 to 2013. She was a member of the Chamber of Deputies from 1998 to 2020. In 2 ...
*
Jan Skopeček
Jan Skopeček (19 September 1925 – 27 July 2020) was a Czech actor and playwright.
Born in Litoměřice
Litoměřice (; german: Leitmeritz) is a town in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 23,000 inhabitants. Th ...
*
Zbyněk Stanjura
*
Bohuslav Svoboda
Bohuslav Svoboda (born 8 February 1944) is a Czech politician and physician who served as the mayor of Prague from 30 November 2010 to 23 May 2013.
Svoboda is a member of the Civic Democratic Party.
Biography
Bohuslav Svoboda was born on 8 F ...
*
Jiří Ventruba
*
Jan Zahradník
*
Pavel Žáček
Civic Democratic Party has 16 Senators of the
Senate of the Czech Republic
The Senate (), literally "Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic", is the upper house of the Parliament of the Czech Republic. The seat of the Senate is Wallenstein Palace in Prague.
Structure
The Senate has 81 members, chosen i ...
.
*
Lumír Aschenbrenner
*
Jiří Burian
*
Martin Červíček
*
Ladislav Chlupáč
*
Hynek Hanza
Hynek Hanza (*14 October 1977) is a Czech Civic Democratic politician who serves as Senator representing Teplice and a Mayor of Teplice as a successor of Jaroslav Kubera.
Biography
Hanza was born in Teplice in 1977. He studied Teplice Grammar S ...
*
Tomáš Jirsa
*
Pavel Karpíšek
*
Michal Kortyš
*
Rostislav Koštial
*
Raduan Nwelati
*
Zdeněk Nytra
*
Jiří Oberfalzer
*
Jan Tecl
*
Vladislav Vilímec
*
Miloš Vystrčil
Miloš Vystrčil (, born 10 August 1960) is a Czech politician serving as the President of the Senate and Senator from Jihlava district. Vystrčil previously served as Mayor of Telč and governor of Vysočina Region.
Biography
He was born in ...
*
Jaroslav Zeman
Civic Democratic Party has 4
MEPs
A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament.
When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, it ...
.
*
Evžen Tošenovský
Evžen Tošenovský (born 26 February 1956) is a Czech politician. He was elected as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) in the 2009 European Parliament election receiving the largest number of preference votes.
Tošenovský graduated from ...
*
Veronika Vrecionová
*
Alexandr Vondra
*
Jan Zahradil
References
Bibliography
*
External links
*
{{Authority control
1991 establishments in Czechoslovakia
Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe member parties
Civic Forum breakaway groups
European Conservatives and Reformists member parties
Eurosceptic parties in the Czech Republic
International Democrat Union member parties
Liberal conservative parties in the Czech Republic
Political parties established in 1991
Political parties in the Czech Republic
Political parties in Czechoslovakia
Right-wing parties in the Czech Republic