2022 Civic Democratic Party leadership election

Czech political party leadership election
2022 Civic Democratic Party leadership election
← 2020 9 April 2022 2024 →
 
Candidate Petr Fiala
Electoral vote 510
Percentage 95.5%
Leader of ODS before election

Petr Fiala

 Elected Leader of ODS

Petr Fiala

The Civic Democratic Party (ODS) held a leadership election on 9 April 2022, following the 2021 Czech legislative election.[1]

Background

Petr Fiala has been the leader of the party since 2014. Leadership elections are held every two years. Fiala was reelected for a fourth term in 2020, but his reelection was overshadowed by the defeat of his Deputy Leader Alexandra Udženija and the candidacy of controversial politician Pavel Novotný for Deputy leader.[2][3] Support for ODS in opinion polls stagnated during 2020,[4] and Fiala decided to form an electoral alliance with KDU-ČSL and TOP 09,[5] under the name SPOLU. It was reported that some members of ODS did not agree with the alliance.[6] Martin Kuba, the Governor of the South Bohemian Region, expressed his opposition to the alliance in January and February 2021. Kuba received widespread media attention during the COVID-19 pandemic, triggering tabloid speculation that he would eventually replace Fiala.[7][8]

SPOLU received 27.8% of votes in the 2021 Czech legislative election and finished first. As a result Fiala became Prime Minister of the Czech Republic,[9] and subsequently confirmed his candidacy.[10] The election was scheduled for 15 January 2022, but was postponed till Spring 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[11][12]

Candidates

  • Petr Fiala, the incumbent leader. In December 2021, after the 2021 Czech legislative election, he confirmed that he would stand again as leader.[10]

Speculative

  • Martin Kuba, Governor of South Bohemian region. Kuba's media profile increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, triggering speculation that he would replace Fiala as the leader of ODS.[13][14][15]

Voting

The vote was set for 9 April 2022, with more than 600 voting delegates gathering in O2 universum Centre. Fiala was the sole candidate.[16][17] Fiala acknowledged during his nomination speech that many voters had chosen ODS as a lesser evil, and said the party should keep that in mind. He said that voters had decided to give the party another chance and ODS could not afford to disappoint them. He also noted as a success of his leadership that ODS had returned to the position of senior government party.[18] Fiala won reelection with 510 of 534 votes. 24 votes were invalid.[19]

Candidate Vote %
Petr Fiala 510 95.51
Invalid 24 4.49%

References

  1. ^ "Stranické sjezdy určí směr levici. Komunisté a ČSSD si krátce před volbami určí nové vedení". Lidovky.cz (in Czech). 31 December 2020. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  2. ^ "Holec: Jak chce ODS vyhrát volby, když jsou největším dramatem jejího sjezdu dvě prohry?". info.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  3. ^ "Předsedou ODS je znovu Fiala. Udženija neuspěla, místopředsedou je Stanjura". Aktuálně.cz (in Czech). 18 January 2020. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  4. ^ "Proč ODS s Fialou stagnuje. Chybí étos Klausovy transformace i Topolánkovy mobilizace". Aktuálně.cz (in Czech). 15 May 2020. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  5. ^ "Nevýrazná ODS stagnuje. Slučování pravice je z nouze ctnost s nejistým výsledkem". info.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  6. ^ "Poškozuje to Petra Fialu, celou stranu i naši demokracii. Zveličování odporu ke koalici SPOLU v ODS nikam nevede". forum24.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  7. ^ "Fiala: SPOLU se nerozpadne. Martin Kuba? Z toho strach nemám". parlamentnilisty.cz. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  8. ^ "Kuba už koalici SPOLU začal torpédovat, Fiala ji navzdory rozhodnutí o mandátech hájí". Blesk.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  9. ^ "Úspěšný "projekt Fiala". Jak se z akademika stal kandidát na premiéra". iDNES.cz (in Czech). 16 October 2021. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
  10. ^ a b "ODS, ANO, Piráty a lidovce čeká příští rok volba vedení. Kandidáti se již hlásí". ct24.ceskatelevize.cz (in Czech). Česká televize. Retrieved 30 December 2021.
  11. ^ "ODS odložila kongres kvůli covidu až na jaro". ct24.ceskatelevize.cz (in Czech). Česká televize. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  12. ^ "ODS odložila kongres kvůli covidu-19 až na jaro. Měl být příští sobotu". eurozpravy.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  13. ^ "Fialu může v ODS odstřelit muž, který ho podporoval: Martin Kuba je novou politickou star". Extra.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  14. ^ "Hudba pro Babišovy uši: Martin Kuba ochotně říká novinářům, jak vylepšit ODS a jak je koalice SPOLU špatná". www.forum24.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  15. ^ Klímová, Jana (14 January 2021). "Jihočeský hejtman Kuba míří vzhůru. Opřený o byznys s ČEZ". Hospodářské noviny (iHNed.cz) (in Czech). Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  16. ^ "Začne volební kongres ODS, Fiala ani Stanjura nemají protikandidáta". iDNES.cz (in Czech). 8 April 2022. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
  17. ^ "Kongres chystá ovace pro Fialu. Premiér bude počtvrté obhajovat mandát předsedy ODS". echo24.cz (in Czech). 8 April 2022. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
  18. ^ "Mnohým voličům jsme přišli jako nejmenší zlo, řekl Fiala na kongresu ODS". novinky.cz. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
  19. ^ "Fiala obhájil post předsedy ODS, získal 510 z 510 platných hlasů". ct24.ceskatelevize.cz (in Czech). Česká televize. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
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