In the EU - together with the communists

The right has lost its majority in the Czech parliament

The results of last Saturday's elections to the lower house of the Czech Parliament showed that society is moving to the left as the country's economic growth slows down. The main sensation was the emergence of the Communist Party of the Czech Republic and Moravia (CHRM) in third place, which received 41 of the 200 “played out” mandates and increased its faction by 17 deputies.

The remaining parties, including the ruling Social Democratic Party (ČSDP), suffered losses. As a result, for the first time since the “Velvet Revolution” of 1989, the right lost its majority in the chamber, where the main legislative process takes place, and a joke spread throughout the cities and villages of the country about the possibility of President Vaclav Havel initiating a center-left coalition with the participation of Social Democrats and Communists. The HRCM advocates the country's exit from NATO and opposes its entry into the European Union.

The success of the HRCM reflects the Czechs' fears of future problems, but is unable to turn Prague “off the path to Brussels.” In recent years, the country has been ruled by a coalition cabinet consisting of representatives of the Czech Social Democratic Party (Havel's party) and the Civil Democratic Party (CDP), led by the “father” of Czech economic reforms and ex-Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus. In Saturday's elections, the Social Democrats took first place, receiving 70 mandates, and the Civic Democrats took second place with 58 mandates. The fourth went to the so-called “Coalition”, an association of Christian Democrats and the right-liberal “Union of Freedom” (31 mandates).

CSDP leader Vladimir Spilda has already stated: “First, I will invite the Coalition to negotiations on the formation of a cabinet, and then we’ll see.” Spilda's caution is explained by the fact that the new government will have to reach final agreements on the Czech Republic's accession to the EU in the absence of the “Euro-enthusiast” Havel, who is leaving his post next year. Klaus gained a reputation as a “Eurosceptic” with his sharp reaction to the Austrian protests against the launch of the Czech Temelin nuclear power plant and the compensation demands of the descendants of the Sudeten Germans.

Alexey SLOBODIN