Civic Democratic Party Presidential Primaries, 2012
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Civic Democratic Party presidential primaries, 2012 were held for
2013 Czech presidential election Presidential elections were held in the Czech Republic in January 2013, the country's first direct election for the presidency. No candidate received a majority of the votes in the first round on 11–12 January, so a second round runoff electio ...
from 30 April to 28. June 2012. They were the first presidential primaries in the Czech Republic.
Přemysl Sobotka Přemysl Sobotka (born 18 May 1944 in Mladá Boleslav) is a Czech Republic, Czech physician and politician who served as the President of the Senate of the Czech Republic, President of the Senate from 2004 to 2010. Sobotka was a candidate in 201 ...
on the primaries with 61% of votes against 39 votes for the other candidate,
Evžen Tošenovský Evžen Tošenovský (born 26 February 1956) is a Czech Republic, Czech politician. He was elected as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) in the 2009 European Parliament election in the Czech Republic, 2009 European Parliament election recei ...
. Primaries suffered for low voter turnout as only 6,203 from 27,000 party members voted. There were members of ODS who were of opinion that the party should support
Miloš Zeman Miloš Zeman (; born 28 September 1944) is a Czech politician who served as the third president of the Czech Republic from 2013 to 2023. He also previously served as the prime minister of the Czech Republic from 1998 to 2002. As leader of the Cze ...
instead of having its own candidate as neither Tošenovský or Sobotka is a strong candidate that can win. It was one of the reasons for a low turnout.


Candidates

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Přemysl Sobotka Přemysl Sobotka (born 18 May 1944 in Mladá Boleslav) is a Czech Republic, Czech physician and politician who served as the President of the Senate of the Czech Republic, President of the Senate from 2004 to 2010. Sobotka was a candidate in 201 ...
, a vice-chairman of
Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
. *
Evžen Tošenovský Evžen Tošenovský (born 26 February 1956) is a Czech Republic, Czech politician. He was elected as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) in the 2009 European Parliament election in the Czech Republic, 2009 European Parliament election recei ...
, a Member of
European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...
.


Declined

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Miroslava Němcová Miroslava Němcová (née Daňková; born 17 November 1952) is a Czech politician who served as 6th President of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic from 2010 to 2013. She was a member of the Chamber of Deputies from 1998 to 2020. In 2 ...
, a vice-chairman of
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 Bourb ...
was expected to run. She decided to not participate in election. Her decision was speculated to be a result of low performance in opinion polls for presidential election. *
Jaroslav Kubera Jaroslav Kubera (16 February 1947 – 20 January 2020) was a Czech politician for the Civic Democratic Party, who served in the Czech Senate representing Teplice from 2000 and the Senate President from 2018 until his death in 2020. He previous ...
, senator and mayor of Teplice. He was offered nomination by Ústí nad Labem regional organisation of ODS in April 2012. He declined the offer. He stated that he has too much respect for presidential office to run and that he knows his limits. He ran in senate election instead. * Tomáč Töpfer, an actor and former senator. Some members of party offered him support but he declined. "I would run only if some
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 ...
threatens democracy." *
Cyril Höschl Cyril Höschl (; 12 November 1949 – 21 April 2025) was a Czech psychiatrist and university lecturer. After the Velvet Revolution, he was the first freely elected Dean of the third Medical Faculty of Charles University (1990–1997) and from 19 ...
, a psychiatrist. He decided to not participate as he is responsible for too many other projects.


Debates

The first debate was held on 3 May 2012. Debate was very calm and without confrontation. Sobotka only criticised presidential front-runner Jan Fischer. He said that Fischer is popular because he wasn't brave to make any important decision as Prime Minister. Tošenovský said that wants to be a similar president to
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 second ...
.


Support of candidates in opinion polls


Voting

Voting took place in 9 election regions (each consisted of one or two Regions). Every member of Civic Democratic Party could participate if he joined party at least 60 days prior the beginning of primaries. Voting started in Hradec Králové Region and Pardubice Region. Sobotka received 404 votes and Tošenovský 141. Přemysla Sobotka was reported to be surprised by results. Sobotka commented results: "Competition has only just started, but this victory is a good impulse to me for other rounds of primaries." Voter turnout was low with 30%. Another voting took place in Olomouc Region and Zlín Region. Sobotka narrowly won in Olomouc region by 1 vote while Tošenovský narrowly won Zlín region by two votes. Overall results in Central Moravia were victory for Evžen Tošenovský who won by 1 vote. Sobotka considered this result a success as the voting took place in Tošenovský's territory. Sobotka was still ahead after voting in Central Moravia. Another round took place in South Bohemia and in Vysočina Region. Sobotka won when he received 409 votes while Tošenovský received only 215 votes. Sobotka overall received 1,101 votes and Tošenovský 654 votes by the moment. Sobotka also won voting in West Bohemia. More decisive victory was in Karlovy Vary region where Sobotka received 75% of votes. Voter turnout in region was only 19.3%. Sobotka was leading the overall primaries with 1,523 votes (66%) while Tošenovský had only 794 votes (34%). Next voting took place in North Bohemia - in Sobotka's home region. Sobotka decisively won the voting with 722 votes while Tošenovský had only 170 votes. Sobotka widened his lead to more than 70% of votes in overall voting. Some reported that the most populous regions were ahead so the battle might not be over. Moravian-Silesian Region where another voting took place is home region of Evžen Tošenovský. Tošenovský admitted that he is more nervous in this region than he was in the previous ones as there are more people who know him. Tošenovský won the region with 895 votes while Sobotka received only 229 votes. Voter turnout was higher than in other regions (46%). Sobotka was still leading with 2,474 votes (57%). Tošenovský had 1,895 votes (43%) Sobotka won primaries in Central Bohemia. He received 425 votes while Tošenovský only 168. Sobotka widened his lead. He was winning nationally with 2,899 votes (59%). Sobotka received 543 votes in Prague while Tošenovský only 181 votes. Sobotka was nationally winning with 3,442 votes, while Tošenovský had 2,208. Prague primaries also suffered of low turnout. Last primaries were held in South Moravia. Sobotka received 329 votes and Tošenovský only 224. Sobotka won whole primaries and won party's nomination for president. Party's leader Petr Nečas praised the result and called Sobotka qualified and honest candidate who has clear opinion and isn't
populist Populism is a contested concept used to refer to a variety of political stances that emphasize the idea of the " common people" and often position this group in opposition to a perceived elite. It is frequently associated with anti-establis ...
.


Results


Aftermath

Sobotka participated in
2013 Czech presidential election Presidential elections were held in the Czech Republic in January 2013, the country's first direct election for the presidency. No candidate received a majority of the votes in the first round on 11–12 January, so a second round runoff electio ...
but received only 2.46% of votes. It was considered a devastating defeat. Some Journalists called the result "Blue Waterloo."


See also

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Civic Democratic Party (Czech Republic) The Civic Democratic Party (, ODS) is a Conservatism, conservative and Economic liberalism, economically liberal List of political parties in the Czech Republic, political party in the Czech Republic. The party sits between centre-right and right ...
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2013 Czech presidential election Presidential elections were held in the Czech Republic in January 2013, the country's first direct election for the presidency. No candidate received a majority of the votes in the first round on 11–12 January, so a second round runoff electio ...
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Primary election Primary elections or primaries are elections held to determine which candidates will run in an upcoming general election. In a partisan primary, a political party selects a candidate. Depending on the state and/or party, there may be an "open pr ...


References


External links


Official Site of the Primaries
{{Civic Democratic Party (ODS) , state=autocollapse Presidential Primaries 2012 Civic Democratic Party presidential primaries Primary elections in the Czech Republic Civic Democratic Party presidential primaries