TOP 09 (name derived from cs, Tradice Odpovědnost Prosperita, lit=Tradition Responsibility Prosperity)
is a
liberal-conservative political party
A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...
in the
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
, led by
Markéta Pekarová Adamová. TOP 09 holds 14 seats in the
Chamber of Deputies and has three
MEPs.
History
Foundation and participation in government
The party was founded on 11 June 2009 by
Miroslav Kalousek
Miroslav Kalousek (born 17 December 1960) is a Czech politician, former leader of KDU-ČSL and TOP 09, and has been a member of the Chamber of Deputies (MP) since 1998. He served twice as Finance Minister in the cabinets of Mirek Topolánek and th ...
who left the
Christian and Democratic Union – Czechoslovak People's Party
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρισ ...
.
Karel Schwarzenberg, who had previously served as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the
second Topolánek cabinet from January 2007 to March 2009, having been nominated by the
Green Party for the post, and who had been elected to the Senate in 2004 as nominee of the
Freedom Union – Democratic Union
The Freedom Union–Democratic Union ( cs, Unie Svobody–Demokratická unie, US–DEU) was a small pro-European liberal party in the Czech Republic from 1998 to 2011.
Freedom Union was founded in January 1998 by former members of the Civic Dem ...
(US-DEU) and
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) parties, became the party's first leader.
In the
2010 parliament elections on 28–29 May 2010, TOP 09 received 16.7% of the vote and 41 seats, becoming the third largest party. The party joined the new coalition government, the
Nečas cabinet, with the
Civic Democratic Party (ODS) and
Public Affairs (VV).
In September 2010 TOP09 applied to join the
European People's Party.
Karel Schwarzenberg has already officially participated in two EPP summits (15 September and 16 December 2010). On 10 February 2011 TOP 09 has officially been granted permission to join the EPP.
In the
2013 legislative election on 25–26 October 2013, TOP 09 won 12% of the vote and 26 seats. The party entered opposition to the
Sobotka cabinet.
Opposition and cooperation with STAN and ODS
In the
2014 European elections on 24 and 25 May 2014, TOP 09 reached second place nationally with 15.95% of the vote, electing 4
MEPs.
Karel Schwarzenberg left the position of leader in 2015. He was replaced by
Miroslav Kalousek
Miroslav Kalousek (born 17 December 1960) is a Czech politician, former leader of KDU-ČSL and TOP 09, and has been a member of the Chamber of Deputies (MP) since 1998. He served twice as Finance Minister in the cabinets of Mirek Topolánek and th ...
afterwards.
In March 2016,
Karel Tureček left the party and joined ANO 2011 which left TOP 09 with 25 MPs. In May 2016,
Pavol Lukša, one of founders of TOP 09, left the party and established the new party
Good Choice.
TOP 09 was heavily defeated in
2016 regional elections. The party has gained only 19 seat and 3.4% of votes. Miroslav Kalousek then considered resignation but decided to stay.
In January 2017, TOP 09 introduced its new program called Vision 2030. TOP 09 wants to adopt Euro, implement electronical voting and increase health standard to the level of Germany. TOP 09 also wants to shorten week work time to 4 days. Miroslav Kalousek said that he believes that TOP 09 will get over 10% in upcoming legislative election even though recent opinion polls indicated that TOP 09 might not reach 5% threshold.
Ahead of 2017 parliamentary elections, TOP 09 was endorsed by The
Czech Crown
The koruna, or crown, ( sign: Kč; code: CZK, cs, koruna česká) has been the currency of the Czech Republic since 1993. The koruna is one of the European Union's 9 currencies, and the Czech Republic is legally bound to adopt the euro curre ...
,
Conservative Party,
Club of Committed Non-Party Members
The Club of Committed Non-Party Members (in Czech ''Klub angažovaných nestraníků'', ''KAN'') is a small liberal party in the Czech Republic co-founded by Rudolf Battěk.
It was founded during the Prague Spring in May 1968 by 144 leading Czech ...
and
Liberal-Environmental Party. The party eventually received 5.3% of votes being marginalised to 7 seats.
Jiří Pospíšil became the new leader after the election.
In the
next year municipal elections TOP 09 got only 1.1 per cent of the vote nationally. The best performance for the party was in the Prague City council elections, following which it joined a coalition with the
Czech Pirate Party
The Czech Pirate Party or Pirates ( cs, Česká pirátská strana , abbreviated ''Piráti'' ) is a liberal progressive political party in the Czech Republic, founded in 2009. The party was founded as a student-driven grassroots movement campaig ...
and Prague Together.
In November, 2019,
Markéta Pekarová Adamová was elected as new leader of the party. In late 2020, TOP 09 formed an electoral alliance with KDU-ČSL and ODS called
SPOLU, to run in the
2021 elections. The alliance won popular vote and formed a coalition with
Pirates and Mayors
Pirates and Mayors ( cs, Piráti a Starostové) was a liberal progressive centrist political alliance in the Czech Republic, formed for the 2021 legislative election, consisting of the Czech Pirate Party (Piráti) and Mayors and Independents (S ...
alliance. As a part of agreement of these alliances, TOP 09 leader Pekarová Adamová became
Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic.
On 20 November 2021 Pekarová Adamová was reelected in a TOP 09 leadership election, with 163 from 176 votes, being the only candidate.
Ideology
TOP 09 has been noted for its support of
fiscal conservatism and is considered pro-
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...
,
being strongly in favour of
European integration.
These two stances create a basic common ground of the party, as it was otherwise divided in two ideological wings: social conservative and social liberal. On 12 July 2017, TOP 09 and
Liberal-Environmental Party agreed to participate in the
2017 Czech legislative election
Legislative elections were held in the Czech Republic on 20 and 21 October 2017. All 200 members of the Chamber of Deputies were elected and Andrej Babiš of ANO 2011, also the leader of the resultant government, became the Prime Minister. The ...
together.
Election results
Below are charts of the results that the TOP09 has secured in the
Chamber of Deputies,
Senate,
European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...
, and
regional assemblies at each election.
Chamber of Deputies
Senate
Notes:
1 By-election in Kladno district.
2 By-election in Prague 10 district
3 By-election in Trutnov district. TOP 09 supported a
STAN candidate Jan Sobotka.
Presidential
European Parliament
Local election
Prague municipal elections
Regional election
2020 Czech regional election resultsCzech Statistical Office
/ref>
Leaders
*
Karel Schwarzenberg (2009–2015)
*
Miroslav Kalousek
Miroslav Kalousek (born 17 December 1960) is a Czech politician, former leader of KDU-ČSL and TOP 09, and has been a member of the Chamber of Deputies (MP) since 1998. He served twice as Finance Minister in the cabinets of Mirek Topolánek and th ...
(2015–2017)
*
Jiří Pospíšil (2017–2019)
*
Markéta Pekarová Adamová (Since 2019)
Symbols
TOP 09 Teillogo.svg, Party logo 2009–2017
TOP 09 logo.svg, Party logo 2017–present
Notes
References
External links
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Top 09
Political parties established in 2009
Liberal conservative parties in the Czech Republic
Member parties of the European People's Party
Christian democratic parties in the Czech Republic
Liberal parties in the Czech Republic
Pro-European political parties in the Czech Republic
KDU-ČSL breakaway groups
2009 establishments in the Czech Republic