Freedom Union – Democratic Union
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The Freedom Union–Democratic Union (, US–DEU) was a small
pro-European Pro-Europeanism, sometimes called European Unionism, is a political position that favours European integration and membership of the European Union (EU).Krisztina Arató, Petr Kaniok (editors). ''Euroscepticism and European Integration''. Pol ...
liberal
political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...
in the
Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...
from 1998 to 2011. The Freedom Union was founded in January 1998 by former members of the Civic Democratic Party who were unhappy with the leadership of
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 ...
. After initially serving in a
caretaker government A caretaker government, also known as a caretaker regime, is a temporary ''ad hoc'' government that performs some governmental duties and functions in a country until a regular government is elected or formed. Depending on specific practice, it co ...
, Freedom Union went into opposition after the 1998 election. In opposition, Freedom Union merged with the Democratic Union, and formed an alliance with the Christian Democratic Union – Czechoslovak People's Party (KDU-ČSL). From 2002 to 2006 Freedom Union was part of a coalition government with the
Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...
and KDU-ČSL. However, in government the party lost support and at the 2006 election the party won less than 1% of the vote and failed to win any seats. The party disbanded on 1 January 2011.


History


Founding

The party was founded on 17 January 1998 at a congress in
Litomyšl Litomyšl (; ) is a town in Svitavy District in the Pardubice Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 10,000 inhabitants. It is a former bishopric and Latin Catholic titular see. Litomyšl is known for the château-type castle complex of the Lit ...
as the Freedom Union (), as a split from the Civic Democratic Party (ODS). The party was founded after divisions within ODS over the leadership of Václav Klaus, and what the defectors said was his failure to tackle funding scandals. The former
interior minister An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a Cabinet (government), cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and iden ...
Jan Ruml led a challenge for the ODS leadership, but was defeated by Klaus by 227 votes to 72 at a special congress on 14 December 1997. This prompted 30 ODS members of parliament to form the Freedom Union, including
Finance Minister A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfoli ...
Ivan Pilip and
Defence Minister A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...
Michal Lobkowicz. The party elected Jan Ruml as its first leader on 2 February 1998. Pilip and Lobkowicz were among the members of the Freedom Union who served in the caretaker government of Josef Tošovský, formed after the collapse of the coalition led by Václav Klaus. The party initially attracted public support, with a poll in March 1998 showing the Freedom Union on 13%, ahead of ODS on 8%. However the party suffered in the campaign for the June 1998 election, due to a lack of readiness for an election and a vague programme that was seen as being very similar to that of ODS.


Opposition

At the 1998 election the Freedom Union won 8.6% of the vote and 19 seats in 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 Bourb ...
. Refusing to form a government with ODS led by Václav Klaus, or with the Social Democratic Party due to policy differences, the party went into opposition. Instead the Social Democrats formed a
minority government A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in ...
, which was tolerated by ODS. In September 1998, the Freedom Union formed an alliance called the " Four-Coalition" with three other
centre-right Centre-right politics is the set of right-wing politics, right-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. It is commonly associated with conservatism, Christian democracy, liberal conservatism, and conservative liberalis ...
parties: KDU-ČSL, the Democratic Union, and the
Civic Democratic Alliance The Civic Democratic Alliance (, ODA) was a conservative-liberal political party in the Czech Republic, active between 1989 (founded shortly after the Velvet revolution) and 2007. The ODA was part of government coalitions until 1997 and partic ...
. The Four-Coalition went on to win the most seats in the November 1998 Senate election. Ruml resigned as leader in December 1999, and the following February the party elected Karel Kühnl as the new leader, with 193 votes compared to 87 for Vladimír Mlynář. The Freedom Union performed strongly at the November 2000 Senate election, becoming the third largest party in the
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 ...
. In late 2001, Freedom Union merged with the Democratic Union party to form the Freedom Union-Democratic Union (US-DEU). However the Four-Coalition split at the beginning of 2002, after a lack of agreement on how to manage the high level of debts held by the Civic Democratic Alliance. Freedom Union-Democratic Union instead formed an alliance with KDU-ČSL to fight the 2002 election as the "Coalition".


Government

At the 2002 election the coalition of the Freedom Union-Democratic Union and KDU-ČSL won 31 seats in the Chamber of Deputies, and subsequently became part of a coalition government led by the
Czech Social Democratic Party Social Democracy (, SOCDEM), known as the Czech Social Democratic Party (, ČSSD) until 10 June 2023, is a social democratic political party in the Czech Republic. Sitting on the centre-left of the political spectrum and holding pro-European ...
, which had a majority of one seat. However, at the 2002 Senate election, the Freedom Union-Democratic Union was reduced to only one senator. As a party of government, the party started losing members and support, and suffered defeat in the 2004 European Parliament elections, failing to pass the 5% threshold required to win seats. Party leader Petr Mares resigned as a result, and was succeeded by the Regional Development Minister Pavel Němec. The party won just one seat at the 2004 Senate election.


Decline and dissolution

At the 2006 election, the party received just 0.3% of the vote, and lost all its seats in 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 Bourb ...
, triggering the resignation of its leader, Pavel Němec. The party held a final party conference on 4 December 2010, where it was decided to disband the party as of 1 January 2011.


Policies

The Freedom Union-Democratic Union was a centre-right liberal party, which promoted
free market In economics, a free market is an economic market (economics), system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of ...
policies and supported lower taxes and university tuition fees. The party was also a consistent critic of
corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...
. However the party was also socially liberal, supporting the protection of the environment and minority rights. For the 2006 election, the party called for the legalisation of
euthanasia Euthanasia (from : + ) is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering. Different countries have different Legality of euthanasia, euthanasia laws. The British House of Lords Select committee (United Kingdom), se ...
,
same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...
and
marijuana Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...
. The party was also pro-European and supported direct presidential elections. Support for the party was mostly among younger urban voters and those with
higher education Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...
.


Election results


Chamber of deputies of the Czech Republic


Senate


Presidential


European Parliament


Leaders


References


External links


Freedom Union–Democratic Union
official site {{DEFAULTSORT:Freedom Union - Democratic Union Liberal parties in the Czech Republic Defunct political parties in the Czech Republic Right-wing parties in the Czech Republic Civic Democratic Party (Czech Republic) breakaway groups Social liberal parties Liberal conservative parties in the Czech Republic 2011 disestablishments in the Czech Republic 1998 establishments in the Czech Republic Political parties established in 1998 Political parties disestablished in 2011