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The Tricolour Citizens' Movement ( cs, Trikolóra hnutí občanů, Trikolóra) is a
hard 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 ...
,
fiscally conservative Fiscal conservatism is a political and economic philosophy regarding fiscal policy and fiscal responsibility with an ideological basis in capitalism, individualism, limited government, and ''laissez-faire'' economics.M. O. Dickerson et al., ''An ...
, and
national-conservative National conservatism is a nationalist variant of conservatism that concentrates on upholding national and cultural identity. National conservatives usually combine nationalism with conservative stances promoting traditional cultural values, ...
political party in the Czech Republic This is a list of political parties in the Czech Republic. The Czech Republic has a multi-party system. Due to the electoral system used, a limited number of parties are successful in each parliamentary election. Parliamentary parties There a ...
. The founder and the former leader of the movement is
Václav Klaus Jr. Václav Klaus Jr. (Czech: ''Václav Klaus ml.'' or ''mladší'', ; born 10 September 1969) is a Czech teacher and politician. He was a member of the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) until his expulsion in March 2019. Klaus was a Member of the Cham ...
, a former member of the Chamber of Deputies who was expelled from the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) on 16 March 2019. The movement's chief foreign policy adviser is his father
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 secon ...
, an economist, politician, and former
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 ...
and
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 ...
of 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 ...
. Klaus Sr. was also the founder of ODS. The party contested the 2021 legislative elections as part of the Trikolora Svobodní Soukromníci electoral alliance.


History

Klaus Jr. said that he began considering the founding of a new party when he was expelled from the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) in March 2018. In April 2019 he announced that he would present the name and ideology of the party in June 2019 after the
European Parliament elections Elections to the European Parliament take place every five years by universal adult suffrage; with more than 400 million people eligible to vote, they are considered the second largest democratic elections in the world after India's. Until ...
. His father
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 secon ...
, former Czech Prime Minister and President, was said to be a member. On 28 April 2019, Klaus Jr. called on his supporters on Facebook to help him choose the name of the party, pledging that he would buy a bottle for the winner. Many suggestions were satirical, such as Klaus Klaus Klan (a reference to the
Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...
), Party of Free Common Sense (Strana Svobodného Selského Rozumu – SSSR, a reference to the
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
) or Klaustrophobia. Serious suggestions included the Patriotic Coalition (whose Czech name "Vlastenecká koalice" would share Klaus's initials) or Nation Together. In early June 2019 Klaus Jr. registered the name Tricolour Citizens' Movement. The party was presented at a press conference on 10 June 2019, with Klaus Jr. saying that Tricolour would "defend Conservative ideas of a normal world". The party had two MPs at that time, Klaus Jr. and Zuzana Zahradníková Majerová, who were both elected as candidates of ODS. Among the members of the new party were cardiac surgeon Jan Pirk, doctor and former MP
Boris Šťastný Boris may refer to: People * Boris (given name), a male given name *:''See'': List of people with given name Boris * Boris (surname) * Boris I of Bulgaria (died 907), the first Christian ruler of the First Bulgarian Empire, canonized after his d ...
, economist Markéta Šichtařová, former vice rector of the University of West Bohemia
Ivo Budil Ivo is a masculine given name, in use in various European languages. The name used in western European languages originates as a Normannic name recorded since the High Middle Ages, and the French name Yves is a variant of it. The unrelated So ...
and Jan Teplý Sr. Klaus Jr. commented that there were approximately another 10 MPs who were considering joining Tricolour. The press conference was attended by Civic Democratic Party senator
Jaroslav Zeman Jaroslav Zeman (born 10 February 1962) is a Czech wrestler. He competed at the 1988 Summer Olympics, the 1992 Summer Olympics and the 1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as ...
, leading to speculation that he may also join Tricolour. The party held its founding assembly on 28 September 2019. Klaus Jr. was elected new leader of Tricolour. He stated that the party would "fight its
Marxist Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...
and
Maoist Maoism, officially called Mao Zedong Thought by the Chinese Communist Party, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed to realise a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of Ch ...
enemies", and expressed the view that Tricolour was a party for young people, as "Conservatism is Punk for today." Tricolour was endorsed by some foreign politicians such as
Nigel Farage Nigel Paul Farage (; born 3 April 1964) is a British broadcaster and former politician who was List of UK Independence Party leaders, Leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) from 2006 to 2009 and 2010 to 2016 and Brexit Party#Leaders, Lea ...
of the
Brexit Party Reform UK is a Right-wing populism, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. It was founded with support from Nigel Farage in November 2018 as the Brexit Party, advocating hard Euroscepticism and a no-deal Brexit, and was bri ...
(UK), Petr Bystron of
Alternative for Germany Alternative for Germany (german: link=no, Alternative für Deutschland, AfD; ) is a right-wing populist * * * * * * * political party in Germany. AfD is known for its opposition to the European Union, as well as immigration to Germany. I ...
, and
Viktor Orbán Viktor Mihály Orbán (; born 31 May 1963) is a Hungarian politician who has served as prime minister of Hungary since 2010, previously holding the office from 1998 to 2002. He has presided over Fidesz since 1993, with a brief break between 20 ...
of
Fidesz Fidesz – Hungarian Civic Alliance (; hu, Fidesz – Magyar Polgári Szövetség) is a right-wing populist and national-conservative political party in Hungary, led by Viktor Orbán. It was formed in 1988 under the name of Alliance of Young ...
(Hungary). Some Czech media outlets have compared Klaus and Tricolour to Dutch politician
Thierry Baudet Thierry Henri Philippe Baudet (; born 28 January 1983) is a Dutch far-right politician, author and self-declared conspiracy theorist. He is the founder and leader of Forum for Democracy (FvD), and has been a member of the House of Representativ ...
and his
Forum for Democracy Forum for Democracy ( nl, Forum voor Democratie, FvD) is a right-wing populist Eurosceptic political party in the Netherlands that was founded as a think tank by Thierry Baudet and Henk Otten in 2016. The party first participated in elections i ...
party. The party had registered 10,000 supporters at the time, who are intended to be converted into members of Tricolour. The party got its third MP in July 2020 when Tereza Hyťhová (elected for
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 ...
) joined Tricolour. In March 2021, Klaus Jr. resigned as leader of the party for personal reasons.
Zuzana Majerová Zahradníková Zuzana is a common female given name in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. It is often translated to other languages as Zuzanna (Polish language, Polish), Suzanne (given name), Suzanne, Susan, or Susannah – all commonly derived from the Hebrew lang ...
became acting leader of the party. The party participated in the 2021 legislative election in an alliance with
Svobodní Svobodní ( en, Freedomites), until 2019 known as the Party of Free Citizens or the Free Citizens' Party ( cs, Strana svobodných občanů), is a classical liberal and right-libertarian,
and the
Freeholder Party of the Czech Republic Freeholder Party of the Czech Republic ( cs, Strana soukromníků České republiky, SsČR) is a centre-right conservative political party in the Czech Republic. The party considers itself to be a successor to Czechoslovak Traders' Party. The party ...
, known as Trikolora Svobodní Soukromníci, but failed to meet the 5% voting threshold. Soukromníci announced on 7 April 2022 that the party was ending its cooperation with Tricolour. Zahradníková and Svobodní leader Libor Vondráček confirmed that the Trikolora Svobodní Soukromníci alliance was no longer in operation.


Ideology

The program of the party is based on three main "pillars": * Prioritising the Czech Republic and its citizens over the rest of the world. * The view that the wealth of the Czech Republic was created by the free enterprise of its citizens and companies, rather than government regulation. * The defence of conservative values and "common sense". The party has since published further policies, under the slogan ''Let's give the people back their country''. The policies include improving the Czech education system, simplifying the tax code, assistance for young people and the elderly, support for the Czech military and police forces, prioritising Czech law over European law, and opposing "mass and uncontrolled immigration". The party supports Czech membership of
NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
, but wants to reduce the power of the
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 des ...
, and supports a Europe "based on cooperation between free, independent nation states as opposed to a power centralized around
Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
", stating that the Czech parliament must not be "just a subordinate body approving laws written elsewhere".


Organisation


Membership

As of 28 September 2019, the party had 240 members and 10,000 registered supporters.


Leaders


Election results


Chamber of Deputies


References


External links


Official website
{{Václav Klaus, state=autocollapse National conservative parties in the Czech Republic Nationalist parties in the Czech Republic Far-right politics in the Czech Republic Right-wing parties in the Czech Republic Eurosceptic parties in the Czech Republic Political parties established in 2019 2019 establishments in the Czech Republic Civic Democratic Party (Czech Republic) breakaway groups