Rally for the Republic – Republican Party of Czechoslovakia

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.

Rally for the Republic – Republican Party of Czechoslovakia
Sdružení pro republiku – Republikánská strana Československa
LeaderMiroslav Sládek
Founded1989 (2016)
HeadquartersŠtefánikova 50, Brno
Youth wingRepublican Youth
Ideology
Political positionFar-right[3][7][8][9]
European affiliationEuronat
Colours     
White, Red, Blue
Party flag
Flag of the Rally for the Republic – Republican Party of Czechoslovakia
Website
http://www.spr-rsc.cz/

History

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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

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Czech National Council

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

Slovak National Council

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

Chamber of Deputies

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

European Parliament

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

Presidential

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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

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  1. ^ a b c d Mudde, Cas (2005). Racist Extremism in Central and Eastern Europe. Psychology Press. p. 30. ISBN 9780415355940.
  2. ^ Nordsieck, Wolfram (2023). Parties and Elections in Europe: Parliamentary Elections and Governments since 1945, European Parliament Elections, Political Orientation and History of Parties. BoD – Books on Demand. 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
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