Budoucnost () is a

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...

political movement in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

, founded in May 2020. It is co-led by Jakub Kovařík and Klára Školníková.

History

The movement was registered in May 2020. Part of its preparatory committee consisted of former members of Idealists.cz and the Zelená re:vize organization associated with the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...

. In the 2020 Senate elections, the movement joined the

Social Democrats Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, s ...

(ČSSD) and the Greens in supporting the candidacies of

Jiří Dienstbier Jr. Jiří Dienstbier Jr. (born 27 May 1969) is a Czech politician, lawyer and the Senator for Kladno from 2011 to 2020, representing the Social Democratic Party (ČSSD). He previously served as Minister for Human Rights, Equal Opportunities and Legi ...

and Michal Šmarda. In the 2022 municipal elections, Budoucnost ran for the

Prague City Assembly The Prague City Assembly () is the legislative body of Prague, the capital city of the Czech Republic. The ''Act on the Capital City of Prague'' requires that the assembly consist of 50 to 70 members; it currently has 65 members, elected in 2022 ...

as part of the

Solidarity Solidarity or solidarism is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. True solidarity means moving beyond individual identities and single issue politics ...

coalition with ČSSD, the Greens, and the Idealists Movement, but did not win any seats. The movement stood candidates in 16 other seats, with four members elected in

Jilemnice Jilemnice (; ) is a town in Semily District in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 5,400 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic)#Monument zones, urban monu ...

Slaný Slaný (; ) is a town in Kladno District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 17,000 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic)#Monument zones, ur ...

Neratovice Neratovice (; ) is a town in Mělník District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 16,000 inhabitants. It is an industrial town, known especially for the Spolana chemical plant. Administrative division Neratovice co ...

and

Horní Domaslavice Horní Domaslavice () is a municipality and village in Frýdek-Místek District in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 1,100 inhabitants. Geography Horní Domaslavice is located about east of Frýdek-Místek, in the h ...

. Budoucnost endorsed

Josef Středula Josef Středula (born 12 November 1967) is a Czech Republic, Czech trade union activist. He became the chairman of the KOVO trade union in 2005. He left the office in 2014 to become the chairman of the Bohemian-Moravian Confederation of Trade Uni ...

in the 2023 presidential election. He withdrew his candidacy on 8 January 2023. In the

2024 European Parliament election The 2024 European Parliament election was held in the European Union (EU) between 6 and 9 June 2024. It was the tenth Elections to the European Parliament, parliamentary election since the 1979 European Parliament election, first direct electio ...

, four members of Budoucnost ran on the candidate list of

Social Democracy Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

Program

Budoucnost calls for a suspension of

distraint Distraint or distress is "the seizure of someone’s property in order to obtain payment of rent or other money owed", especially in common law countries. Distraint is the act or process "whereby a person (the ''distrainor''), traditionally eve ...

by private entites and easing of debt relief by increasing pensions and reducing labor taxation. They would make housing more affordable in large cities by building public and

cooperative housing A housing cooperative, or housing co-op, is a legal entity which owns real estate consisting of one or more residential buildings. The entity is usually a cooperative or a corporation and constitutes a form of housing tenure. Typically hou ...

, capping rent, fighting

homelessness Homelessness, also known as houselessness or being unhoused or unsheltered, is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and functional housing. It includes living on the streets, moving between temporary accommodation with family or friends, liv ...

and limiting rental services such as

Airbnb Airbnb, Inc. ( , an abbreviation of its original name, "Air Bed and Breakfast") is an American company operating an online marketplace for short-and-long-term homestays, experiences and services in various countries and regions. It acts as a ...

. The movement wants to address

oligarchy Oligarchy (; ) is a form of government in which power rests with a small number of people. Members of this group, called oligarchs, generally hold usually hard, but sometimes soft power through nobility, fame, wealth, or education; or t ...

by introducing

wealth tax A wealth tax (also called a capital tax or equity tax) is a tax on an entity's holdings of assets or an entity's net worth. This includes the total value of personal assets, including cash, bank deposits, real estate, assets in insurance and ...

es, as well as tightening

media Media may refer to: Communication * Means of communication, tools and channels used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Interactive media, media that is inter ...

ownership and

campaign finance Campaign financealso called election finance, political donations, or political financerefers to the funds raised to promote candidates, political parties, or policy initiatives and referendums. Donors and recipients include individuals, corpor ...

laws. Other priorities of the movement include ending

privatisation Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation w ...

, creating new state enterprises (particularly a

public bank A public bank is a bank, a financial institution, in which a State (polity), state, municipality, or public actors are the owners. It is an enterprise under government control.

and phone operator) and transitioning to a carbon-free economy financed by those who have profited from the

climate crisis ''Climate crisis'' is a term that is used to describe global warming and climate change and their effects. This term and the term ''climate emergency'' have been used to emphasize the threat of global warming to Earth's natural environment an ...

References

{{Czech political parties 2020 establishments in the Czech Republic Democratic socialist parties in Europe Feminism in the Czech Republic Feminist parties in Europe Political parties established in 2020 Political parties in the Czech Republic Social democratic parties in the Czech Republic