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The Evolution of the Party Systems of the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic After the Disintegration of Czechoslovakia

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The Evolution of the Party Systems of the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic After the Disintegration of Czechoslovakia DOI : 10.14746/pp.2017.22.4.10 Krzysztof KOŹBIAŁ Jagiellonian University in Crakow The evolution of the party systems of the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic after the disintegration of Czechoslovakia. Comparative analysis Abstract: After the breaking the monopoly of the Communist Party’s a formation of two independent systems – the Czech and Slovakian – has began in this still joint country. The specificity of the party scene in the Czech Republic is reflected by the strength of the Communist Party. The specificity in Slovakia is support for extreme parties, especially among the youngest voters. In Slovakia a multi-party system has been established with one dominant party (HZDS, Smer later). In the Czech Republic former two-block system (1996–2013) was undergone fragmentation after the election in 2013. Comparing the party systems of the two countries one should emphasize the roles played by the leaders of the different groups, in Slovakia shows clearly distinguishing features, as both V. Mečiar and R. Fico, in Czech Republic only V. Klaus. Key words: Czech Republic, Slovakia, party system, desintegration of Czechoslovakia he break-up of Czechoslovakia, and the emergence of two independent states: the TCzech Republic and the Slovak Republic, meant the need for the formation of the political systems of the new republics. The party systems constituted a consequential part of the new systems. The development of these political systems was characterized by both similarities and differences, primarily due to all the internal factors. The author’s hypothesis is that firstly, the existence of the Hungarian minority within the framework of the Slovak Republic significantly determined the development of the party system in the country, while the factors of this kind do not occur in the Czech Re- public. Secondly, the party system in Slovakia revealed a noticeable readiness to support nationalist groups, which it is difficult to discern in the Czech system.1 1. The tradition of political parties and the party system at the time of the disintegration of Czechoslovakia The tradition of the existence of political parties on the territories presently belong- ing to the Czech Republic is longer than in case of the Slovakian lands. The Czech parties were formed in the late 70s of the nineteenth century, whereas political forma- tions seeking support among the Slovakian population could not function de facto until the inter-war period. At that time the most important role in the common state of Czechoslovakia was played by Czechoslovak Social Democratic Workers Party, 1 The article describes the situation of 1 May 2017. 120 Krzysztof KOŹBIAŁ PP 4 ’17 Czechoslovak National Democracy Party and Republican Party of Farmers and Peas- ants. In Slovakia, the strongest party was Slovak People’s Party (Hlinka’s Party). In practice, a separate Slovakian party system began to take shape after the fall of the so-called First Republic and the proclamation of Slovakia’s autonomy in October 1938 (Bankowicz, 2010, pp. 56–57, 188–189). In March 1939 Slovakia declared its inde- pendence, which further promoted the process of foundation of a separate party system (Bankowicz, 1998, pp. 41–57). During the communist period, in Czechoslovakia as in other socialist countries, a single-party system operated, even though, theoretically, apart from the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (Communist Party) there were other groups, thus legitimiz- ing the so-called. people’s democracy. In the years 1945–1948 the Communist Party of Slovakia was formally independent. In Charter 77, the main opposition movement in this country, Slovaks were rare, the whole movement was perceived rather as the Czech (Skotnicki, 2000, p. 30; Bankowicz, 1998, pp. 90–93; Tomaszewski, 1997, p. 86; Kusý, 2002, p. 516). The democratic system, characterised, among other things, by the existence of a com- petitive multiparty system, began to take shape after the fall of communism, which is as- sociated with the so-called Velvet Revolution, initiated by the demonstrations in Prague on November 17, 1989. In consequence, Civic Forum (OF – Občanské forum) was es- tablished in the Czech Republic and Public Against Violence (VPN – Verejnosť proti násiliu) in Slovakia (Tomaszewski, 1997, pp. 248–249). They were not political parties in the classic sense of the word, but political movements representing the emanation of anti-communist opposition (Jičínský, 1996, pp. 64–65). There were some differences between them. OF was determined to take political responsibility for their actions, while VPN understood its role as a readiness to demonstrate, to organize the society, but not as an opportunity to seize power (Bajda, 2010, p. 29). It was then that a significant decision was made which possibly – as noted by P. Ba- jda – determined that a uniform political elite never came into being, and probably also contributed greatly to the division of Czechoslovakia. OF and VPN remained separate movements and the founders of VPN “began to think in terms of us – the Slovaks, you – the Czechs” (Bajda, 2010, p. 32). Breaking the monopoly of the Communist Party’s rule was a breakthrough, a turning point in the party system of the state. From that moment a formation of two indepen- dent systems – the Czech and Slovakian – has began in this still joint country (Fiala, Hloušek, 2003, pp. 17–19). The only connecting elements were the federal government and the parliament. There were not any groups that could function effectively throughout Czechoslovakia (Kopeček, Spáč, 2010, p. 112). The first democratic elections in Czechoslovakia (June 1990) resulted in the victory of the two opposition groups: OF in the Czech Republic (49.5%) and VPN in Slovakia (29.3%). However with time, the two movements underwent decomposition,2 thus deep- ening the process of formation of separate parties and contributing to the independence of the party systems of the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic which appeared on the political map of Europe on 1 January 1993. 2 In the election of 1992 OF gained only 4,6% of the votes, VPN underwent decomposition. PP 4 ’17 The evolution of the party systems of the Czech Republic... 121 2. The party system of the Czech Republic In the emerging Czech party system the process of reactivation of “the historical parties” took place. An excellent example of this is the Czech Social Democratic Party (ČSSD – Česká strana sociálně demokratická) which continued the traditions reaching back to the nineteenth century. Also the Christian Democratic Czechoslovak People’s Party (ČSL – Československá strana lidová) followed the old traditions. It eventually became the main driving force of the lasting coalition with the Christian and Democratic Union (KDU – Křesťanská a demokratická unie). The Communist Party, undergoing transformations, became a perceptible element of the system. From it Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSČM – Komunistická strana Čech a Moravy) sprang up and has remained present in all the parliaments of the Republic after 1993. The party emphasizing Moravian regionalism was Movement for AutonomousDemocracy – Association for Moravian and Silesia (HSD-SMS – Hnutí za samosprávnou demokracii – Společnost pro Moravu a Slezsko) (Fiala, Hloušek, 2003, pp. 19–23; Tomaszewski, 1997, pp. 250–251). There were also a lot of populist parties, even though they played a marginal role. In 1990 Association for the Republic/Republican Party (SPR – RSČ – Sdruzení pro re- publiku – Republikánská strana Československa) was established and won the seats in parliament after the elections of 1992 and 1996. Anti-communism was one of its main electoral slogans (Wojtas, 2011, pp. 169–170). Other, diverse groups, such as Green Party (SZ – Strana Zelených) or Democratic Union (DEU – Demokratická unie), did not play any important role (Skotnicki, 2000, pp. 32–33). OF, mentioned above, with time was divided and replaced by a right-wing Civic Demo- cratic Party (ODS – Občanská demokratická strana), becoming over the years one of the dominant parties, and Civic Democratic Alliance (ODA – Občanská demokratická aliance), which eventually disappeared from the political scene (Skotnicki, 2000, pp. 30–31). In the middle of 1990 there were approx. 70 groups/partys registered in the Czech Republic, some of them quite “exotic”, with no chance to get into parliament, for exam- ple Friends of Beer Party (SPP – Strana Přatel Piva) (Koźbiał, 2016, p. 199). Currently, as of May 1, 2017, there are 263 political parties and movements registered in the Czech Republic (Rejstřík..., 01.05.2017). In the first period of the Czech independence a strong and sometimes even dominant position of the two parties: ODS and ČSSD was noticeable. They received the strongest support: in 2006 these parties won a total of nearly 68% of the votes. ODS has been los- ing support, in the last election only less than 8% of voters voted for it. The loss of voters by the Social Democratic Party was not so painful and the party participated in governing coalitions (also now, as the winner of the last elections). Both parties sought to reduce the importance of the smaller parties. In 1998 ODS and ČSSD signed a coalition agreement which enabled the Social Democrats to create a minority government. At the same time it was the beginning of the changes in the electoral law, aimed at establishing an easier route to the emergence of a stable majority in the Chamber of Deputies. The changes did not go this far because of the opposition of the Constitutional Court (Sokół, 2007, pp. 387–394).3 3 The change of the electoral method from Hagenbach’s to d’Hondt’s was the reflection of these preferences. 122 Krzysztof KOŹBIAŁ PP 4 ’17 Despite the high level of support, none of these parties could govern single-handedly (apart from the mentioned minority government). The Czech party system was also char- acterised by the isolation of the Communist Party and ruling out coalition talks with it.
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