Občanské hnutí
The Občanské hnutí (OH, German citizens' movement ) was a left-wing liberal political party in the Czech Republic that existed from 1991 to 1995. It emerged from the citizens' forum as the second party alongside the ODS . From 1993 it was called Svobodní Demokratie (SD, Free Democrats ). The chairman was Jiří Dienstbier throughout its existence . The members included Petr Pithart , Martin Bursík , Pavel Rychetský , Miloš Zeman and Jan Sokol . The party was a member of the Liberal International and from 1994 an associated member of the European Liberals, Democrats and Reformers (ELDR).
history
The OH was founded on April 27, 1991 after the ODS split off from the Bürgerforum. While the conservative and radical market ODS around Václav Klaus wanted to quickly switch to party politics, the majority of the OH members were supporters of the “non-political politics”, which was propagated above all by the “poet president” Václav Havel . This demarcation from interest-based realpolitik is also reflected in the name, which identifies the group as a “movement” and not a “party”.
The lack of profile in terms of content led to the electoral defeat of the OH in the elections of 1992. Both in the elections for the Czech National Council and those for the Federation Assembly , the OH remained just below the 5 percent threshold. In response, the OHIM renamed itself Svobodní Demokratie (“Free Democrats”) in 1993 and tried to sharpen its liberal profile to distinguish it from the ODS and the Social Democrats . The German FDP was a role model and namesake.
In December 1995, the party united with the Liberální strana NARODNE sociální successor to the former ( "Liberal National Social Party" LSNS), block party Československá strana socialistická and significant once Československá strana NARODNE socialistická ( "Popular Socialists"), the party Svobodni Demokraté - Liberální strana národně sociální (SD-LSNS, “Free Democrats - Liberal National Social Party”). Jiří Dienstbier and Vavřinec Bodenlos were their co-chairs. This formation did not last long either. It reached only 2.05% in the 1996 elections and thus clearly missed entry into the Chamber of Deputies. Then Dienstbier and other former SD members withdrew and the party fell apart.
A part of the founding members of the OH in 1998 founded the Strana pro otevřenou společnost ( Eng . "Party for an open society"). In 2006 and 2008 it was able to successfully occupy one seat in the Senate . From 2008 to 2012 she was involved in the regional government of the Liberec region together with the Czech Social Democratic Party , before she was no longer able to enter the regional parliament in the regional elections in 2012.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Mats Öhlén: The Eastward expansion of the European Liberal Party Family. The Relation between the European Liberal Party Family and Liberal Parties in Central and Eastern Europe. XV. Conference of the Nordic Political Science Association (NoPSA), Tromsø, August 6-9, 2008, pp. 11, 13.
- ↑ Till Janzer: The end of “non-political politics” - the citizens' forum disintegrated 25 years ago. Radio Prague, February 23, 2016.
- ↑ Rick Fawn, Jiří Hochman: Historical Dictionary of the Czech State. 2nd edition, Scarecrow Press, Lanham (MD) et al. 2010, pp. 102-103, entry Free Democrats-Liberal National Social Party .
- ↑ Rick Fawn, Jiří Hochman: Historical Dictionary of the Czech State. 2nd edition, Scarecrow Press, Lanham (MD) et al. 2010, p. 66, entry Czechoslovak National Socialist Party .
- ↑ volby.cz