Workers' Party of Social Justice
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Workers' Party of Social Justice ( cs, Dělnická strana sociální spravedlnosti) is a
Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...
political party, often described as the major
far-right Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...
extremist Extremism is "the quality or state of being extreme" or "the advocacy of extreme measures or views". The term is primarily used in a political or religious sense to refer to an ideology that is considered (by the speaker or by some implied share ...
party 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 ...
. The party is not represented in any legislative body in the Czech Republic and its biggest electoral success so far has been a gain of 1,14% in the Czech legislative election in 2010. Some of the high-ranking party officials, including a
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 ...
party leader, have been associated with
neo-Nazi Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazism, Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and Supremacism#Racial, racial supremacy (ofte ...
groups such as ''Národní odpor'', the Czech subsidiary of an international militant neo-Nazi group. In spring 2009 the petition for the ban on the party was dismissed by the Czech Supreme Administrative Court, because, as the presiding judge stated, the applicant (
Czech government The Government of the Czech Republic ( cz, Vláda České republiky) exercises executive power in the Czech Republic. The members of the government are the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic (Chairman of the Government), the deputy prime min ...
) didn't manage to provide sufficient evidence in what was seen as a botched application. Following violent attacks against Czech minorities by far-right extremists (such as the Vítkov arson attack of 2009), the government filed a more detailed petition for the ban, which was discussed by the Czech Supreme Court in January and February 2010. The party was banned, making it the first instance of banning a party for its ideology in the modern history of the Czech Republic. The party was transformed into a "Party of Citizens of the Czech Republic" and the party was renamed to Workers' Party of Social Justice. The party's program was kept the same with small adjustments.


Ideology and program

The party was formed in 2003 and received less than 1% of the vote in its first election, but shortly afterwards attracted major media attention for organizing riots in quarters of
Litvínov Litvínov (; german: Leutensdorf) is a town in Most District in the Ústí nad Labem Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 22,000 inhabitants. It is known as an industrial centre. Administrative parts Litvínov is made up of 12 town parts an ...
with a significant
Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council *Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...
population. Afterwards, the party has managed to maintain considerable publicity by organizing a march against homosexuals in Tábor. The party then started to emphasize a nationalist dimension of its program, mostly seeking to overhaul what they see as a favorable treatment of minorities, and engaged in radically anti-communist rhetoric; on the 20th anniversary of the collapse of Communism in Czechoslovakia, the party leader Tomáš Vandas said: "So what is the state of the society nowadays? In one word: tragic. Communists still govern us." The party has repeatedly called for the overthrow and subversion of the Czech political system, which the party describes both as "liberal" and "totalitarian". Its official slogan for the 2009 European elections was "Resist the totalitarian regime". The party's program includes reducing national debt while increasing old age pensions and reducing the retirement age.
Party program, article III
Some of the more concrete proposals include restrictions on foreign investment, including a total ban on purchases of real estate by foreign nationals and nationalization of certain companies.
Party program, article II
The party also wants to restore the
death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
, criminalize "
sexual deviation Paraphilia (previously known as sexual perversion and sexual deviation) is the experience of intense sexual arousal to atypical objects, situations, fantasies, behaviors, or individuals. It has also been defined as sexual interest in anything o ...
", including homosexuality, abolish
registered partnership A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, created primarily as a means to provide recognition in law for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage ...
, reduce rights of criminal defendants and in some cases create new crimes with a retroactive effect. Some of the most controversial proposals include marking of ethnicity in ID cards
Party program, article I
and giving the police discretion to treat the arrested person inhumanly. In international affairs, the party opposes
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 ...
and 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 demands that the Czech Republic leave those organizations. The party is strongly
anti-American Anti-Americanism (also called anti-American sentiment) is prejudice, fear, or hatred of the United States, its government, its foreign policy, or Americans in general. Political scientist Brendon O'Connor at the United States Studies Centr ...
and seems to be pro-Russian, going as far as stating that the Czech Republic must "immediately and strongly restore its relations with Russia" Concerning other matters in international affairs, the chairman of the party arbitration commission congratulated
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ( fa, محمود احمدی‌نژاد, Mahmūd Ahmadīnežād ), born Mahmoud Sabbaghian ( fa, محمود صباغیان, Mahmoud Sabbāghyān, 28 October 1956),
of
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
after his victory in the 2009 presidential election.
Workers news: "Who do you want to lecture?" (Official party newspaper, only in Czech)


Election results


European Parliament


Czech legislative election


References

{{Authority control Workers' Party of Social Justice, Political parties established in 2010 Banned far-right parties 2010 establishments in the Czech Republic Anti-Romanyist parties in the Czech Republic Anti-Zionist political parties in the Czech Republic Criticism of feminism Czech fascists Nationalist parties in the Czech Republic Far-right political parties in the Czech Republic Eurosceptic parties in the Czech Republic Third Position Far-right parties in Europe Anti-communist parties Neo-Nazi political parties in Europe