Rally for the Republic – Republican Party of Czechoslovakia

Czech political party

The Rally for the Republic – Republican Party of Czechoslovakia (Czech: Sdružení pro republiku - Republikánská strana Československa, abbreviated to Republikáni or SPR–RSČ) is a minor political party in the Czech Republic, strongly opposed to the EU, NATO and immigration. The party and its leader Miroslav Sládek are particularly known for their radical attitudes towards Roma people (antiziganism) and Germans.

History

The party was founded on December 30, 1989 as one of the first political parties in post-communist Czechoslovakia. It peaked in the 1996 Czech legislative election with 8% of the vote (485,072 electors, 18 seats in the 200-seat Chamber of Deputies) but declined after that, and in 2001 disbanded due to financial irregularities – specifically the theft of party funds by the chairman, who used the money to fund his luxury lifestyle.[10]

The party was reestablished in 2001 as Republicans of Miroslav Sládek (RMS, Republikáni Miroslava Sládka). Sládek immediately set up a new party; to distinguish it from the other "republican" parties his name was added. The new party failed to attract a significant number of votes (0.9% during 2002 Czech legislative election was the highest). For the 2006 elections RMS joined with the National Party, which obtained 0.1% of votes. The number of active members was estimated to be in the dozens at most.[11]

On May 17, 2008 this new party merged with five other minor parties to form the SPR–RSČ. The renewed party chose Sládek as chairman, yet even after the merger the party failed to gain political traction. For non-compliance with statutory obligations, the Supreme Administrative Court of the Czech Republic (acting on a Czech government proposal) decided in December 2010 to temporarily suspend the Republican party's activities. Finally, on 15 May 2013, the Court ordered its complete dissolution.

The party was reestablished once again in February 2016 under the name Rally for the Republic – Republican Party of Czechoslovakia 2016.[12]

Election results

Czech National Council

Year Vote Vote % Seats Place
1990 72,048 1.00
0 / 200
 10th
1992 387,026Increase 5.98Increase
14 / 200
 6th

Slovak National Council

Year Vote Vote % Seats Place
1990 7,023 0.21
0 / 150
 13th
1992 10,069Increase 0.33Increase
0 / 150
 16th

Chamber of Deputies

Year Vote Vote % Seats Place
1996 485,072Increase 8.01Increase
18 / 200
 5thIncrease
1998 232,965Decrease 3.90Decrease
0 / 200
 6thDecrease
2002 46,325Decrease 0.97Decrease
0 / 200
 7thDecrease
2006[13] 9,341Decrease 0.18Decrease
0 / 200
 15thDecrease
2010 1,993Decrease 0.03Decrease
0 / 200
 19thDecrease
2017 9,857Increase 0.19Increase
0 / 200
 17thIncrease

European Parliament

Year Vote Vote % Seats Place
2004 15,767 0.67
0 / 24
 11th
2009 7,492 Decrease 0.32 Decrease
0 / 24
 19th Decrease
2019 4,284 Increase 0.18 Increase
0 / 24
 24th Increase

Presidential

Indirect Election Candidate First round result Second round result Third round result
Votes %Votes Result Votes %Votes Result Votes %Votes Result
1993 Miroslav Sládek 14 8.1 3rd place —
1998 Miroslav Sládek 23 12.5 3rd place —

References

  1. ^ a b c d Mudde, Cas (2005). Racist Extremism in Central and Eastern Europe. Psychology Press. p. 30. ISBN 9780415355940.
  2. ^ Nordsieck, Wolfram. Parties and Elections in Europe: Parliamentary Elections and Governments since 1945, European Parliament Elections, Political Orientation and History of Parties. p. 131. ISBN 9783734706691.
  3. ^ a b Havlík, Vlastimil; Kluknavská, Alena (5 March 2023). "Our people first (again)! The impact of the Russia-Ukraine War on the populist Radical Right in the Czech Republic". European Center for Populism Studies. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
  4. ^ Mareš, Miroslav (2000). Constituing the Far Right in the Czech Party System. Development of the SPR-RSČ from the turn of 1989/1990 to Parliamentary Election 1992 (in Czech). p. 1.
  5. ^ Minkenberg, Michael (2015). Transforming the Transformation?: The East European Radical Right in the Political Process. Routledge. p. 213. ISBN 9781317549390.
  6. ^ O'Dwyer, Conor (2018). Coming Out of Communism: The Emergence of LGBT Activism in Eastern Europe. NYU Press. p. 75. ISBN 9781479851485.
  7. ^ Czyżniewski, Marcin (2021). "Dynamika systemu partyjnego Republiki Czeskiej" [The Dynamics of the Party System in the Czech Republic]. Historia i Politika. 38 (45). Toruń: Nicolaus Copernicus University, Faculty of Political Science and Security Studies: 178. doi:10.12775/HiP.2021.041. ISSN 1899-5160.
  8. ^ Havlík, Vlastimil; Hloušek, Vít; Kaniok, Petr (2017). Europeanised Defiance – Czech Euroscepticism since 2004. Verlag Barbara Budrich [de]. p. 63. ISBN 9783847410850.
  9. ^ Hasselmann, Chris (2006). Policy Reform and the Development of Democracy in Eastern Europe. Ashgate Publishing. p. 124. ISBN 9780754646372.
  10. ^ Zenkner, Petr (June 5, 2013). "On byl první. Populista i politický podnikatel" [He was the first. Populist and political entrepreneur]. Demokratický střed (in Czech). Retrieved November 25, 2014.
  11. ^ Svobodová, Ivana (March 19, 2006). "Sládek: Politiku jsem ještě nevzdal" [Sládek: I haven't given up politics yet]. iDNES.cz (in Czech). Mladá fronta DNES. Retrieved November 25, 2014.
  12. ^ "REPUBLIKÁNI JSOU ZPĚT!". sprrsc.cz. Retrieved 2 April 2016.
  13. ^ joined National Party

External links

  • Official website (in Czech)
  • v
  • t
  • e
  • Bracketed numbers indicate numbers of seats in the respective chambers.
Chamber of Deputies
2021 (200 seats)
Senate
2022 (81 seats)
European Parliament
2019 (21 seats)
Regional Assemblies
2020 (675 seats)
Other parties
Sources
Chamber of Deputies
Senate
Statistical Office
Authority control databases Edit this at Wikidata
International
  • VIAF
National
  • Czech Republic