Ostravak is a political movement in

Ostrava Ostrava (; ; ) is a city in the north-east of the Czech Republic and the capital of the Moravian-Silesian Region. It has about 283,000 inhabitants. It lies from the border with Poland, at the confluences of four rivers: Oder, Opava (river), Opa ...

, Czech Republic, that arose just before the 2010 municipal elections in response to "

clientelism Clientelism or client politics is the exchange of goods and services for political support, often involving an implicit or explicit ''quid-pro-quo''. It is closely related to patronage politics and vote buying. Clientelism involves an asymmetri ...

arrogance Hubris (; ), or less frequently hybris (), is extreme or excessive pride or dangerous overconfidence and complacency, often in combination with (or synonymous with) arrogance. Hubris, arrogance, and pretension are related to the need for vi ...

of power, unprofessionalism, disrespect for the law, inefficient and uneconomical use of Ostrava property". Ostravak is a regional movement without national affiliation or ambitions to nationwide political participation. The Ostravak citizens' movement originated from the civic association "We Live in the City - Our Ostrava".

Main goals

One of the main goals of the movement was to disrupt the existing grand coalition of the

Czech Social Democratic Party Social Democracy (, SOCDEM), known as the Czech Social Democratic Party (, ČSSD) until 10 June 2023, is a social democratic political party in the Czech Republic. Sitting on the centre-left of the political spectrum and holding pro-European ...

(ČSSD) and the Civic Democratic Party (ODS), which they argued often did not respect the interests of the city's citizens.

Elections

Apart from municipal and senate elections, the Ostravak movement does not participate in elections. In the 2010 municipal elections, Ostravak ran only for the City of

(gaining 10 seats). and to Moravian Ostrava and Přívoz (gain of 10 seats). In Moravská Ostrava and Přívoz, the movement's increase in seats was more than that of the ODS (8 seats) and the

ČSSD Social Democracy (, SOCDEM), known as the Czech Social Democratic Party (, ČSSD) until 10 June 2023, is a Social democracy, social democratic List of political parties in the Czech Republic, political party in the Czech Republic. Sitting on t ...

(9 seats). In the 2012 Senate election, Leopold Sulovský, a candidate for the Ostravak civic movement, was elected in the Ostrava-město district. In the

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, Sulovský defended his Senate seat, taking 59.89% of the vote.

Electoral results

Sponsorship

Since its inception, Ostravak has received donations from citizens to a total of CZK 3,604,700. According to Marek Stoniš from Reflex Ostravak, the civic movement serves to promote the interests of businessman Lukáš Semerák, chairman of the board and co-owner of the real estate company S.P.I. Holdings, which is the largest donor to the movement.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Political parties established in 2010 Political parties in the Czech Republic Ostrava 2010 establishments in the Czech Republic