Czech political party

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 ...

held a leadership election on 26 November 2017, following the party's poor result in the

2017 Czech legislative election Legislative elections were held in the Czech Republic on 20 and 21 October 2017. All 200 members of the Chamber of Deputies were elected and Andrej Babiš of ANO 2011, also the leader of the resultant government, became the Prime Minister. The ...

Jiří Pospíšil Jiří Pospíšil (born 24 November 1975) is a Czech Republic, Czech politician, who was leader of TOP 09 from November 2017 until November 2019. As a deputy for the Civic Democratic Party (Czech Republic), Civic Democratic Party, Pospíšil se ...

was elected as the new leader.

Background

Miroslav Kalousek was elected leader in 2015. His term expired in November 2017. It was speculated that the outcome of the election would depend on the party's result in the 2017 legislative election. Kalousek said that he would resign if the party achieved a poor result in the election. The party was heavily defeated and received only 5%. Speculation about possible successors to Kalousek started, centring on

Markéta Pekarová Adamová Markéta Pekarová Adamová (born 2 October 1984) is a Czech politician who is the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies since 2021 and leader of TOP 09 since 2019. She graduated with a bachelor's degree from the Faculty of Arts, Charles Universit ...

and

. On 24 October 2017, Kalousek announced that he would not seek reelection.

Campaign

Pekarová Adamová said she was considering running and that she would decide within a week, eventually deciding not to run, to focus on her family instead. Ludmila Štvánová announced her candidacy on 3 November 2017. On 4 November 2017, MEP

Luděk Niedermayer Luděk Niedermayer (born 13 March 1966) is a Czech politician and economist, serving as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the Czech Republic since July 2014, representing TOP 09, part of the European People's Party. He also currently se ...

joined the party, provoking speculation about his possible candidacy. Jakub Lepš, whose candidacy was suggested by

Karel Schwarzenberg Prince Karel of Schwarzenberg (, born 10 December 1937) is a Czech politician, former leader of the TOP 09 party and was its candidate for president of the Czech Republic in the 2013 election. He served as a member of the Chamber of Deputies (MP ...

, admitted that he could run. On 4 November 2017, the Prague branch of TOP 09 nominated Jiří Pospíšil for party leader. Pospíšil later confirmed his candidacy. He also received support from regional branches in Plzeň, South Moravia and Hradec Králové. By 25 November 2017, Pospíšil was the only official candidate, with Štvánová having failed to receive any nominations. On 26 November 2017, Pavel Němec announced his candidacy. The election was held on 26 November 2017. Pospíšil received 147 votes of 177 and became the new leader. Němec received 13 votes.

Candidates

Pavel Němec Pavel (Bulgarian, Russian, Serbian and Macedonian: Павел, Czech, Slovene, Romanian: Pavel, Polish: Paweł, Ukrainian: Павло, Pavlo) is a male given name. It is a Slavic cognate of the name Paul (derived from the Greek Pavlos). Pavel ...

, Prostějov councillor and businessman. He announced his candidacy on 26 November 2017. *

, MEP. He stated that he intended to join the party, leading to speculation he might run for leader. Following the legislative election some prominent party members announced they would nominate Pospíšil for the position of leader. He announced his candidacy on 4 November 2017. * Ludmila Štvánová, announced her candidacy on 3 November 2017. She failed to receive any nominations for the position.

Declined

Tomáš Czernin Tomáš () is a Czech and Slovak given name, equivalent to the name Thomas. It may refer to: * Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk (1850–1937), first President of Czechoslovakia * Tomáš Baťa (1876–1932), Czech footwear entrepreneur * Tomáš Berdych ( ...

, Senator. Mentioned as a possible candidate. * Miroslav Kalousek, incumbent leader. He announced on 24 October 2017 that he would not run for reelection. * Jakub Lepš, Deputy Mayor of Prague.

suggested him as a candidate, but he decided to not run. *

, MEP. Mentioned as a possible candidate, but stated on 4 November that he would not run. *

, MP. She was suggested as a possible candidate. On 24 October 2017 she stated that she was considering running, but on 26 October 2017 announced that she would not run. *

Marek Ženíšek Marek Ženíšek (born 26 November 1978) is a Czech politician and political scientist, who has been serving as the Czech Minister for Science and Research in Petr Fiala's Cabinet since May 2024. From 2009 to 2019, he was the vice-chairman of TOP ...

, MP and Deputy leader. He was suggested by Vít Peštuka as a possible candidate, but endorsed Pospíšil.

Results

References

{{TOP 09 , state=autocollapse TOP 09 leadership elections 2017 elections in the Czech Republic TOP 09 leadership election