Legislative elections were held 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 ...
on 20 and 21 October 2017. All 200 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 ...
were elected and
Andrej Babiš
Andrej Babiš (; born 2 September 1954) is a Czech politician and businessman of Slovak descent who served as the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic from 2017 to 2021. Babis previously served as the Minister of Finance and deputy Prime Minister ...
of ANO 2011, also the leader of the
resultant government, became 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 not ...
. The
coalition government
A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government. The usual reason for such an arrangement is that no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, an atypical outcome in ...
following the
2013 legislative election consisted of the two largest parties: 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 m ...
(ČSSD) of Prime Minister
Bohuslav Sobotka
Bohuslav Sobotka (; born 23 October 1971) is a Czech politician and lawyer who served as the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic from January 2014 to December 2017 and Leader of the Czech Social Democratic Party (ČSSD) from 2010 until his resig ...
, and
ANO 2011
ANO 2011, often shortened to simply ANO ("Yes" in English), the initials meaning Action of Dissatisfied Citizens ( cs, Akce nespokojených občanů), is a populist political party in the Czech Republic. The party was founded by Andrej Babiš.
Hi ...
(ANO), led by former Finance Minister and businessman
Andrej Babiš
Andrej Babiš (; born 2 September 1954) is a Czech politician and businessman of Slovak descent who served as the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic from 2017 to 2021. Babis previously served as the Minister of Finance and deputy Prime Minister ...
, alongside 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'' (Χρι ...
(KDU–ČSL). The largest opposition party was the
Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia
The Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia ( cs, Komunistická strana Čech a Moravy, KSČM) is a communist party in the Czech Republic. As of 2021, KSČM has a membership of 28,715, and is a member party of The Left in the European Parliament ...
(KSČM), followed by
centre-right
Centre-right politics lean to the Right-wing politics, right of the Left–right politics, political spectrum, but are closer to the Centrism, centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure a ...
parties
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 of ...
and the
Civic Democratic Party (ODS).
Opinion polling
An opinion poll, often simply referred to as a survey or a poll (although strictly a poll is an actual election) is a human research survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions ...
showed ANO leading since early 2014, with their lead gradually increasing to double digits. ČSSD had been losing ground since early 2017, polling in the low double figures from May 2017. Polls indicated that several other parties, including KSČM, ODS, KDU–ČSL, and TOP 09, were likely to re-enter the Chamber of Deputies, with support fluctuating between 5% and 12%. Across all parties, 7,524 candidates stood for election, setting a national record. There were 37 candidates per seat.
The result was a victory for
populist
Populism refers to a range of political stances that emphasize the idea of "the people" and often juxtapose this group against " the elite". It is frequently associated with anti-establishment and anti-political sentiment. The term developed ...
party ANO, which received 29.6% of the vote and 78 seats. ODS were the second strongest party, receiving 11.3% and 25 seats. The ruling ČSSD fell to 7%, finishing sixth. Both the
Czech Pirate Party
The Czech Pirate Party or Pirates ( cs, Česká pirátská strana , abbreviated ''Piráti'' ) is a Liberalism, liberal Progressivism, progressive List of political parties in the Czech Republic, political party in the Czech Republic, founded in 20 ...
and
Freedom and Direct Democracy
Freedom and Direct Democracy ( cs, Svoboda a přímá demokracie, SPD) is a right-wing populist political party in the Czech Republic. It is led by Tomio Okamura and it holds 20 seats in the Chamber of Deputies.
It has been described as right-wi ...
received over 10% and became new parliamentary parties. Nine parties entered the lower chamber, resulting in the most fragmented Chamber of Deputies in the history of the Czech Republic. This was also the first time that neither ČSSD nor ODS won the legislative election. After eight months of negotiations, ANO and ČSSD agreed to form a minority coalition government, with a
confidence and supply
In a parliamentary democracy based on the Westminster system, confidence and supply are required for a ruling cabinet to retain power in the lower house.
A confidence-and-supply agreement is one whereby a party or independent members of parl ...
agreement with the KSČM which lasted until April 2021. This was the first time the Communists had participated in the national government since the
Velvet Revolution
The Velvet Revolution ( cs, Sametová revoluce) or Gentle Revolution ( sk, Nežná revolúcia) was a non-violent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia, occurring from 17 November to 28 November 1989. Popular demonstrations agains ...
in 1989.
Background
![Tallinn Digital Summit](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/Tallinn_Digital_Summit._Arrivals_Bohuslav_Sobotka_%2823536638518%29_%28cropped%29.jpg)
The
Constitution of the Czech Republic
The Constitution of the Czech Republic ( cs, link=no, Ústava České republiky) is the supreme law of the Czech Republic. The current constitution was adopted by the Czech National Council on 16 December 1992. It entered into force on 1 Januar ...
states that every four years an election to 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 ...
, the lower house of the
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
, must be held. The
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 is a ...
is responsible to the Chamber of Deputies and stays in power only if has the confidence of the majority of
members of parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...
.
Article 19(1) of the Constitution provides that any
citizen of the Czech Republic who has right to vote and is twenty-one years old is eligible to serve as an MP.
The Social Democrats, the largest party following the
2013 elections, formed a centre-left
Coalition government
A coalition government is a form of government in which political parties cooperate to form a government. The usual reason for such an arrangement is that no single party has achieved an absolute majority after an election, an atypical outcome in ...
with ANO and KDU–ČSL. The Social Democrats were represented by eight ministers in the Government, with its leader,
Bohuslav Sobotka
Bohuslav Sobotka (; born 23 October 1971) is a Czech politician and lawyer who served as the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic from January 2014 to December 2017 and Leader of the Czech Social Democratic Party (ČSSD) from 2010 until his resig ...
, 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 not ...
. ANO, the runner-up in the election, was represented by six of its members in the Government, led by businessman
Andrej Babiš
Andrej Babiš (; born 2 September 1954) is a Czech politician and businessman of Slovak descent who served as the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic from 2017 to 2021. Babis previously served as the Minister of Finance and deputy Prime Minister ...
, who was promoted to the role of the First Deputy Prime Minister and served as
Finance Minister
A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation.
A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...
. The smallest party in the coalition, the Christian Democrats, were represented by three ministers, and their leader
Pavel Bělobrádek
Pavel Bělobrádek (; born 25 December 1976) is a Czech politician who was the leader of the KDU-ČSL from 2010 to 2019.
He served as the deputy prime minister and minister of Science and Research in Bohuslav Sobotka's Cabinet
Cabinet of Bohus ...
held the position of Deputy Prime Minister. The biggest opposition party in the Chamber of Deputies was the
Communist Party
A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...
. The centre-right opposition to the government was represented by
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 of ...
and the Civic Democrats.
2014 Senate and municipal elections
In 2014, voters elected 29 out of 81 Senators and approximately 62,300 members of
local councils. The Social Democrats won the Senate election but lost many bigger cities, including the capital
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...
, to its coalition partner, ANO.
2016 regional and Senate elections
In October 2016, voters elected 675 members of regional assemblies in 13
regions of the nation (except Prague) which then elected their regional leadership. ANO won the election with 21.05%, while the Social Democrats came first in only two regions –
South Bohemia
The South Bohemian Region ( cs, Jihočeský kraj; , ) is an administrative unit (''Regions of the Czech Republic, kraj'') of the Czech Republic, located mostly in the southern part of its historical land of Bohemia, with a small part in southwes ...
and
Vysočina – with 15.25% nationwide. The Communists (KSČM) suffered the biggest loss, winning 10.54% and losing 96 seats in the assemblies. The centre-right ODS won 9.47% nationwide and 76 seats in regional assemblies.
Alongside the regional elections, about 2.7 million voters elected 27 of the 81 senators. The KDU-ČSL won these elections with nine new senators, while both ANO and the Social Democrats suffered heavy losses. Even though ANO had 14 candidates in the second round, only three managed to win election. The Social Democrats lost 10 seats, including that of their Vice President of the Senate
Zdeněk Škromach
Zdeněk Škromach (born 31 December 1956) is a Czech politician, who served as the vice-president of the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic
The Senate (), literally "Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic", is the upper ...
. The centre-right ODS had six candidates in the second round, with four of them being elected (including Zdeněk Nytra, who ran as an independent).
2017 Government crisis
The coalition government successfully passed many of the policies that had been announced in 2014, such as electronic registration of sales and reverse charging 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 end ...
.
Bohuslav Sobotka's Cabinet
Cabinet of Bohuslav Sobotka was the governing body of the Czech Republic from 2014 to 2017. Bohuslav Sobotka was designated Prime Minister by President Miloš Zeman on January 17, 2014. The cabinet was sworn in on January 29, 2014. It was replace ...
was considered by pundits and commentators to be stable compared with previous cabinets. However, in early May 2017
a government crisis developed when Prime Minister
Bohuslav Sobotka
Bohuslav Sobotka (; born 23 October 1971) is a Czech politician and lawyer who served as the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic from January 2014 to December 2017 and Leader of the Czech Social Democratic Party (ČSSD) from 2010 until his resig ...
resigned due to the financial irregularities of Finance Minister
Andrej Babiš
Andrej Babiš (; born 2 September 1954) is a Czech politician and businessman of Slovak descent who served as the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic from 2017 to 2021. Babis previously served as the Minister of Finance and deputy Prime Minister ...
. Sobotka reversed his decision a few days later following a dispute with President
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 Czec ...
over the continuation of the government, and on 24 May 2017, Sobotka dismissed Babiš and replaced him with
Ivan Pilný
Ivan Pilný (born July 6, 1944) is a Czech politician and former Microsoft executive who briefly served as Finance Minister of the Czech Republic from 24 May 2017 to 13 December 2017. From 2013 to 2017 Pilný was a member of the Chamber of Deputies ...
, effectively ending the crisis.
Electoral system
The 200 members of the Chamber of Deputies are elected from 14 multi-member constituencies (each usually electing between 5 and 25 members) using
open list
Open list describes any variant of party-list proportional representation where voters have at least some influence on the order in which a party's candidates are elected. This is as opposed to closed list, which allows only active members, par ...
proportional representation
Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...
, in which they can give preferential votes for up to four candidates on their chosen list. Seats are allocated using the
d'Hondt method
The D'Hondt method, also called the Jefferson method or the greatest divisors method, is a method for allocating seats in parliaments among federal states, or in party-list proportional representation systems. It belongs to the class of highest- ...
, with an electoral threshold of 5% nationwide for single parties, 10% for two-party alliances, 15% for three-party alliances and 20% for alliances of four or more parties. Candidates who receive preferential votes from more than 5% of voters are moved to the top of their list, and in cases where more than one candidate receives over 5% of the preferential votes, they are ranked in order of votes received.
Date of the election
The
Czech constitution
The Constitution of the Czech Republic ( cs, link=no, Ústava České republiky) is the supreme law of the Czech Republic. The current constitution was adopted by the Czech National Council on 16 December 1992. It entered into force on 1 Januar ...
states that elections to 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 ...
must be held every four years. Polling days in the Czech Republic are Friday and Saturday, and voters can submit their ballots on either day. The exact date of the election is chosen by the
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
, who is obliged to call it at least 90 days before the election is held. On 6 April 2017, President
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 Czec ...
announced 20 and 21 October 2017 as election days.
Contesting parties
Parties contesting the election included:
Campaign
Background
For the first time in Czech elections, campaign spending was limited, with a cap of 90 million
CZK
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 ...
(approximately €3,300,000) for each party. A new supervisory body was established, the Office for Supervision of Finances of Political Parties and Political Movements.
The date of the election was announced on 2 May 2017, marking the start of the official campaign.
Parties were allowed to register for the election until 15 August 2017. 31 parties registered in total, the highest number ever.
Issues
At the time of the campaign, the
minimum wage
A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation by the end of the 20th century. Bec ...
in the Czech Republic was 12,200
Czech crowns (around 472 euros). Although the minimum wage had increased by 24.6% since 2010 it was still lower than many other
EU member states
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 des ...
. Some voters expressed their feeling that wages and public services had been slow to catch up with the richer West, while businessmen were making billions from privatizations and public contracts.
Czech membership of the Eurozone also became a campaign issue, as although the Czech Republic has theoretically accepted the euro, it has not stated when it will adopt it.
ČSSD
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 m ...
,
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 ...
, the
Greens 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 of ...
are all in favour of adopting the euro as early as possible, while ANO, the Communist Party and SPD reject it. ODS argue for delaying adoption of the euro, citing the
European debt crisis
The European debt crisis, often also referred to as the eurozone crisis or the European sovereign debt crisis, is a multi-year debt crisis that took place in the European Union (EU) from 2009 until the mid to late 2010s. Several eurozone membe ...
.
Party campaigns
ANO 2011
ANO, the front-runner in the election, launched its campaign on 3 May 2017, when media outlets owned by party leader
Andrej Babiš
Andrej Babiš (; born 2 September 1954) is a Czech politician and businessman of Slovak descent who served as the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic from 2017 to 2021. Babis previously served as the Minister of Finance and deputy Prime Minister ...
published an image of Babiš with tape over his mouth, intended as a criticism of ČSSD.
On 10 August 2017, criminal proceedings began against
Andrej Babiš
Andrej Babiš (; born 2 September 1954) is a Czech politician and businessman of Slovak descent who served as the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic from 2017 to 2021. Babis previously served as the Minister of Finance and deputy Prime Minister ...
, who is accused of subsidy fraud. The Chamber of Deputies was asked to remove Babiš's immunity so that he could be criminally prosecuted. Babiš expressed his view that the purpose of the criminal proceedings was to destroy him politically.
Babiš faced ODS leader Petr Fiala in a debate on 29 September 2017. They clashed over issues including corruption and the economy, but agreed on immigration.
ANO 2011 adopted
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 reform ...
policies before the election, including opposition to the Euro, deeper European integration and immigration quotas, but took a more pro-EU stance after the campaign.
Daniel Kaiser of Echo24 described the party's position on the EU as "Euro-opportunism".
Christian and Democratic Union – Czechoslovak People's Party (KDU–ČSL)
![Lidovci a Starostové logo 2017](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9f/Lidovci_a_Starostov%C3%A9_logo_2017.svg)
KDU–ČSL formed a political alliance with
Mayors and Independents
The Mayors and Independents ( cs, Starostové a nezávislí), abbreviated to STAN, is a liberal political party in the Czech Republic that is focused on localism and subsidiarity. The party grew out of four minor parties, including Independent ...
, called
Populars and Mayors, with the aim of becoming the "third power" of Czech politics. Two-party alliances require 10% of votes to qualify for seats in the parliament. The alliance was dissolved in July 2017 as a result of poor results in opinion polls.
KDU-ČSL began its campaign at the beginning of August 2017, focusing on family, education, innovation and children. Pavel Bělobrádek announced that the symbol of the party's campaign was a house for three generations, with the campaign slogan: "Responsibly."
Bělobrádek stated that he would resign if the party's result was worse than the 2013 election.
Civic Democratic Party (ODS)
The centre-right ODS launched their campaign in partnership with the
Freeholder Party, which meant that 40 members of Freeholders would stand for election as representatives of the Civic Democrats. The Civic Democrats launched their campaign on 29 May 2017.
ODS launched its electoral program and announced its candidates on 19 April 2017, promising to lower taxes and cut subsidies and social benefits.
On 11 July 2017, the Civic Democrats said that they did not want to bother voters with politics during the summer holiday season, and launched a contest called "We are looking for the Seven Wonders of Czechia", in which voters would nominate interesting places in their regions that were not well known.
In August 2017, ODS started its contact campaign, with leaders of the party stating that communication with citizens was the party's strongest electoral weapon. The party organised summer film screenings, projecting the film ''
River Rascals'' to attract voters to its meetings.
On 17 August 2017, ODS published the ''Vyšehrad Proclamation'', a list of conditions under which the party would join a coalition government, including lower taxes, refusal to adopt the
Euro
The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...
, rejection of immigration quotas, and ending the electronic sales record.
The party launched the "hot phase" of their campaign on 1 September 2017, known as "Blue Wave."
On 29 September 2017, party leader Petr Fiala faced Andrej Babiš in a debate at Barrandov. Babiš attacked Fiala over the previous ODS government's record, but Fiala was widely considered to have won the debate, attacking Babiš's politics and his business.
Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSČM)
The Communist KSČM ran their campaign on an anti-NATO platform.
Czech Pirate Party (Piráti)
![Pirátský autobus (2017)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ae/Pir%C3%A1tsk%C3%BD_autobus_%282017%29.jpg)
The Pirates launched their campaign on 22 May 2017, aiming to win 10% of votes. They called for radical tax reforms and changes to government administration.
On 17 October 2017, a 2016 picture of party leader
Ivan Bartoš
Ivan Bartoš (born 20 March 1980) is a Czech civil rights activist and a Czech Pirate Party politician, serving as the Minister of Regional Development and Deputy Prime Minister for Digitalization in the governing Cabinet of Petr Fiala since D ...
at an
Anti-Fascist Action
Anti-Fascist Action (AFA) was a militant anti-fascist organisation, founded in the UK in 1985 by a wide range of anti-racist and anti-fascist organisations.
It was active in fighting far-right organisations, particularly the National Front an ...
demonstration was published on the social media accounts of nationalist organization Pro-Vlast. Another picture showed Bartoš attending a left-wing demonstration in 2016 held in support of refugees. Bartoš admitted attending the demonstrations and suggested the photos had been used to run a campaign against his persona.
Czech Social Democratic Party (ČSSD)
Following the
government crisis in May 2017, polls registered a drop in support for the Social Democrats and ANO, and an increase for the Civic Democrats.
A poll by Kantar TNS showing ČSSD in fourth place prompted speculation over
Bohuslav Sobotka
Bohuslav Sobotka (; born 23 October 1971) is a Czech politician and lawyer who served as the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic from January 2014 to December 2017 and Leader of the Czech Social Democratic Party (ČSSD) from 2010 until his resig ...
's position as party leader,
and he resigned as leader of ČSSD on 15 June 2017.
Milan Chovanec
Milan Chovanec (born 31 January 1970) is a Czech politician who served as Minister of the Interior of the Czech Republic in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka from 2014 to 2017 and served as acting Leader of the Czech Social Democrat ...
became acting party leader and
Lubomír Zaorálek
Lubomír Zaorálek (born 6 September 1956) is a Czech politician, who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs under Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka from 2014 to 2017, and Minister of Culture under Prime Minister Andrej Babiš from 2019 to 2021. ...
became the Social Democrat candidate for Prime Minister.
The party's campaign manager,
Jan Birke
Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to:
Acronyms
* Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN
* Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code
* Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group
* Japanese Article Numbe ...
MP, resigned two days after Sobotka.
The Social Democrats experienced internal party conflict in the
South Bohemian Region
The South Bohemian Region ( cs, Jihočeský kraj; , ) is an administrative unit (''kraj'') of the Czech Republic, located mostly in the southern part of its historical land of Bohemia, with a small part in southwestern Moravia. The western part ...
over the rejection of candidates, including former Governor
Jiří Zimola
Jiří Zimola (born 28 March 1971) is a Czech Republic, Czech Czech Social Democratic Party, Social Democrat politician, who served as Governor of the South Bohemian Region from 2008 until his resignation in 2017. Zimola left the Social Democratic ...
. On 5 June 2017, some ČSSD candidates in the region refused to stand for the party, in protest at the party's decision not to include Zimola on their list.
The Social Democrats launched their campaign and election platform on 19 June 2017.
On 29 August 2017,
Lubomír Zaorálek
Lubomír Zaorálek (born 6 September 1956) is a Czech politician, who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs under Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka from 2014 to 2017, and Minister of Culture under Prime Minister Andrej Babiš from 2019 to 2021. ...
launched the party's official campaign.
Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD)
SPD campaigned under the slogan "No to Islam, No to terrorists."
It was speculated that Freedom and Direct Democracy would participate in the election together with the Party of Civic Rights, but SPD leader
Tomio Okamura
is a Czech politician and entrepreneur of Moravian Wallachian, Japanese and Korean ethnicity. He founded the Czech political parties Dawn of Direct Democracy and Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD). Since October 2013, he has been a member of the ...
announced on 14 February that the party would stand independently. Okamura borrowed 18 million Czech koruna for the campaign.
SPD launched its campaign on 20 July, with the aim of winning over 10%. The party called for a law enabling national referendums to be held more easily, and supported a referendum on leaving the European Union.
Polls at the beginning of October showed support for SPD growing.
French politician
Marine Le Pen
Marion Anne Perrine "Marine" Le Pen (; born 5 August 1968) is a French lawyer and politician who ran for the French presidency in 2012, 2017, and 2022. A member of the National Rally (RN; previously the National Front, FN), she served as its pre ...
endorsed SPD before the election.
Green Party
The Greens launched their campaign on 16 June 2017.
Matěj Stropnický stated that he hoped the party would receive 6–8% of votes.
They received less than 1.5%.
Mayors and Independents (STAN)
STAN launched its campaign on 27 July 2017, introducing its new logo and election leader
Jan Farský.
Party of Civic Rights (SPO)
SPO was supported by president
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 Czec ...
. SPO sought to form an alliance with
Tomio Okamura
is a Czech politician and entrepreneur of Moravian Wallachian, Japanese and Korean ethnicity. He founded the Czech political parties Dawn of Direct Democracy and Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD). Since October 2013, he has been a member of the ...
's
Freedom and Direct Democracy
Freedom and Direct Democracy ( cs, Svoboda a přímá demokracie, SPD) is a right-wing populist political party in the Czech Republic. It is led by Tomio Okamura and it holds 20 seats in the Chamber of Deputies.
It has been described as right-wi ...
, but Okamura declined.
On 11 August 2017, SPO announced that
František Ringo Čech
František Ringo Čech (born 9 July 1943) is a Czech musician, songwriter, painter, actor, comedian, publicist, politician, dramatist, screenwriter, and author.
Life and career Early musical career: 1959–1965
František Čech was born in Prag ...
would be its election leader.
Realists (REAL)
The Realists launched their campaign on 14 February 2017, intending to get 20% of votes. Their campaign focused on the introduction of a 15%
flat tax
A flat tax (short for flat-rate tax) is a tax with a single rate on the taxable amount, after accounting for any deductions or exemptions from the tax base. It is not necessarily a fully proportional tax. Implementations are often progressiv ...
and security issues.
On 2 June 2017, the party launched their campaign, "Change of style". Members of the party appeared on billboards with their image changed, and were shown in casual clothes.
TOP 09
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 of ...
launched its campaign on 30 May 2017,
mainly focusing on
being in the "faster lane" of the European Union and adopting the Euro.
On 12 July, TOP 09 announced that it would cooperate with the
Liberal-Environmental Party
Liberal Environmental Party ( cs, Liberálně-ekologická strana, LES) is a Green liberalism, green-liberal list of political parties in the Czech Republic, political party in the Czech Republic. It was established by Martin Bursík as a split fro ...
.
Television debates
The public
ČT24
ČT24 (Czech pronunciation: ˈtʃeːteːˈdvatsɛtˈt͡ʃtɪr̝ɪ) is a 24-hour news channel in Czech, owned and operated by Czech Television. The channel was launched on 2 May 2005.
ČT24 broadcasts from Prague, Czech Republic where their head ...
broadcast a series of debates with spokespeople from the ten biggest parties on various issues, including national security, healthcare,
foreign policy
A State (polity), state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterall ...
and infrastructure, among others. A debate between the leaders of the ten parties was broadcast on 19 October 2017.
Campaign finances
Opinion polls
![Czech Legislative Election polls 2013–2017](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4b/Czech_Legislative_Election_polls_2013%E2%80%932017.png)
The polls are from
October 2013 up to the current date with each line and dots corresponding to a political party.
Results
Media coverage of the election results focused on the entry of SPD and the Pirates into the parliament for the first time, the "fragmented Parliament with nine parties", and the massive loss of support for the Social Democrats.
Distribution of seats by region
Result maps
Government formation
President
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 Czec ...
announced on 22 October that he intended to ask Babiš to form a government. ANO was by far the largest party in the Chamber, with more than twice the vote share and three times as many seats as the second largest party, the Civic Democrats. However, many media outlets speculated that Babiš would encounter problems finding potential coalition problems due to his ongoing criminal fraud charges.
Numerous parties stated their refusal to form a government with ANO as long as Babiš remained its leader, and Babiš ruled out governing with SPD or the Communist Party.
Deputy ANO leader
Jaroslav Faltýnek
Jaroslav (also written as Yaroslav or Jarosław in other Slavic languages) is a Czech and Slovak first name, pagan in origin.
There are several possible origins of the name Jaroslav. It is very likely that originally the two elements of the nam ...
stated that the party should talk to its current coalition partners first. Though Babiš expressed a preference for a coalition with ODS, ODS leader
Petr Fiala
Petr Fiala (; born 1 September 1964) is a Czech politician and political scientist who has been the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic since November 2021 and leader of the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) since 2014. He previously served as the ...
announced that his party would not take part in coalition talks with ANO. An ANO-ODS coalition would have had 103 seats, enough for a governing majority. Although he had voiced Eurosceptic positions during the campaign, Babiš took a more pro-EU stance after the election.
As Babiš could not create a coalition government, he opted to form a minority government. His
cabinet
Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to:
Furniture
* Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers
* Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets
* Filing ...
took power on 13 December 2017, but on 16 January 2018 it lost a
confidence motion
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 mana ...
in the Chamber of Deputies by 78-117. Babiš was therefore obliged to resign and resume negotiations about the future government. With the Civic Democrats, Pirates and other minor parties maintaining their position of refusing to negotiate with ANO as long as Babiš was Prime Minister, negotiations between ANO 2011 and SPD and the Communists continued, while Babiš paused negotiations with the Social Democrats until after its
February congress, where elected new leadership. Babiš said that he would prefer a minority government with
confidence and supply
In a parliamentary democracy based on the Westminster system, confidence and supply are required for a ruling cabinet to retain power in the lower house.
A confidence-and-supply agreement is one whereby a party or independent members of parl ...
from the Social Democrats and the Communists. He subsequently stated that if his cabinet did not pass a confidence motion by May 2018, he would favour a snap election.
Coalition talks between ANO and the Social Democrats failed on 5 April 2018, primarily because of differences regarding the
Ministry of Interior
An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs.
Lists of current ministries of internal affairs
Named "ministry"
* Ministry ...
and
Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a part of the government in most countries that is responsible for matters related to the finance.
Lists of current ministries of finance
Named "Ministry"
* Ministry of Finance (Afghanistan)
* Ministry of Finance and Eco ...
, both of which ČSSD had wanted as a guarantee of the independent investigation of the criminal case against Babiš. On 10 April, President
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 Czec ...
proposed that Babiš continue negotiations with the
Communist Party
A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...
and
Freedom and Direct Democracy
Freedom and Direct Democracy ( cs, Svoboda a přímá demokracie, SPD) is a right-wing populist political party in the Czech Republic. It is led by Tomio Okamura and it holds 20 seats in the Chamber of Deputies.
It has been described as right-wi ...
, which between them would command a 115-seat majority. The parties were co-operating unofficially in the Chamber of Deputies, but in coalition talks they differed on a number of issues, including a
European Union membership referendum and
referendum law. ČSSD subsequently re-opened talks with ANO, in which KSČM also participated. ČSSD entered into coalition with ANO on 15 June 2018, with KSČM subsequently
voting in favour of the ANO-ČSSD minority government in exchange for concessions.
Cyberattacks
The day after the election, the
Czech Statistical Office
The Czech Statistical Office ( cs, Český statistický úřad) is the main organization which collects, analyzes and disseminates statistical information for the benefit of the various parts of the local and national governments of the Czech Re ...
reported that its websites used for presentation of results were the targets of coordinated
DDoS
In computing, a denial-of-service attack (DoS attack) is a cyber-attack in which the perpetrator seeks to make a machine or network resource unavailable to its intended users by temporarily or indefinitely disrupting services of a host
A ...
attacks during the counting of the votes, and as a result the websites volby.cz and volbyhned.cz had been inaccessible. The matter was investigated by the
Czech police
The Police of the Czech Republic ( cs, Policie České republiky) is the national law enforcement agency of the Czech Republic. It was established on 15 July 1991 under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Interior. The agency is tasked with pr ...
, as well as by the
Ministry of the Interior
An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs.
Lists of current ministries of internal affairs
Named "ministry"
* Ministry ...
and the
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 is a ...
.
In January 2018, the police confirmed that the websites were subjected to
DDoS attacks, but stressed that the investigation was still ongoing.
References
{{Czech elections
Elections to the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic
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 ...
Legislative
A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government.
Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known as p ...
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 ...