TOP 09

TOP 09
Party leader	Markéta Pekarová Adamová
Deputy Chairman	Tomáš Czernin
Honorary Chairman	Karel Schwarzenberg
founding	June 11, 2009
Headquarters	Michna Palace, Aujest 450/40, Praha 1
Alignment	Liberal conservatism , Christian democracy
Colours)	Red Blue
Seats in the House of Representatives	7/200
Senate mandates	1/81
MEPs	2/21
European party	EPP
EP Group	EPP Group
Website	www.top09.cz

TOP 09 is a political party in the Czech Republic that was founded in June 2009 by the former chairman of the KDU-ČSL Miroslav Kalousek . The abbreviation TOP stands for tradice, odpovědnost, prosperita (German: "Tradition, Responsibility, Prosperity"). TOP 09 sees itself programmatically as a conservative center-right party, whereby it clearly rejects populist demands. Under the leadership of Karel Schwarzenberg , it was the third strongest force in the legislative period from 2010 to 2013. Since then it has lost its importance.

history

founding

Kalousek, who had been considering this step since the overthrow of the Topolánek II government in March 2009, implemented the establishment immediately after the election of Cyril Svoboda , a representative of the left wing, as the new chairman of the KDU, which stands in the middle between the two major parties. ČSL (Christian and Democratic Union - Czechoslovak People's Party). Numerous representatives of the right wing, including the former Defense Minister Vlasta Parkanová, then also left the KDU-ČSL and joined the TOP 09.

In addition, with František Laudat, a member of the larger Democratic Citizens' Party ( ODS) could be won over. Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg , who was considered one of the most popular politicians in the Czech Republic and was previously a member of the Občanská democická aliance (Citizens' Alliance) and subsequently supported the Green Party, also joined the new party. He was elected first chairman of the party when the party was founded in June 2009.

Before the early parliamentary elections in 2009, which were finally stopped by the Constitutional Court , the TOP 09 party entered into an alliance with the Starostové a nezávislí (Mayors and Independents) movement, which was reflected in the design of the new party logo (with the addition "S podporou Starostů" - "with the support of the mayor").

Government participation 2010

Karel Schwarzenberg led the party from 2009 to 2015

In the 2010 general election , the party received 16.7% of the vote (41 seats in the House of Representatives ). In the center-right government of Nečas (ODS, TOP09, Věci veřejné ), which has been in office since July 2010, the party provided ministers Karel Schwarzenberg (foreign minister and deputy prime minister), Miroslav Kalousek (finances), Jaromír Drábek (labor and social affairs), Leoš Heger (health) and Jiří Besser (culture), who was replaced by the non-party Alena Hanáková in December 2011 after allegations of corruption . Labor Minister Drábek resigned in late October 2012 after his deputy was arrested on corruption charges. He was followed by the former Senator Ludmila Müllerová . TOP 09's participation in government ended in July 2013 after Neča's resignation from the office of Prime Minister.

2013 presidential election

In the 2013 presidential elections , the TOP 09 was chaired by Karel Schwarzenberg . Although he was not ranked among the favorites in the polls, he was just behind Miloš Zeman with 23.4% in the first ballot . In the runoff election, however, Zeman won with 54.8% to 45.2%.

General election 2013

In the early parliamentary elections in 2013 , the party again ran with Karel Schwarzenberg as the top candidate. The TOP 09 lost 4.71% and only came to 11.99% or 26 of 200 mandates. Yet it was far less punished by the electorate than its previous partners in Neča's center-right government .

European elections 2014

For the European elections in the Czech Republic in 2014 , the TOP 09 competed with Luděk Niedermayer as the top candidate. Although the opinion polls for the European elections for the TOP 09 predicted a result between 8% and 14%, the party was able to achieve a surprisingly strong result with 15.95%, just behind the favored and first-placed ANO 2011 . The TOP 09 was able to overtake the social democratic ruling party ČSSD and the communist KSČM , among others .

At the 4th party congress of TOP 09 on November 28, 2015, Miroslav Kalousek replaced Karel Schwarzenberg as party chairman, who had not run for reasons of age. Schwarzenberg was elected to the office of honorary chairman.

General election 2017

In the House of Representatives election in the Czech Republic in 2017 on 20 and 21 October 2017, the party received 5.31 percent of the vote, considerably less than 2013. Miroslav Kalousek then announced its withdrawal from the party chairmanship to. On November 26, 2017, the delegates elected former Justice Minister and MEP Jiří Pospíšil as the new chairman. After two years, Pospíšil did not run again for the presidency. The party congress then elected the previous first vice-chairman and member of the National Council, Markéta Pekarová Adamová, as the new chairman. It prevailed against Senator Tomáš Czernin with 96 of 177 votes (53.9%) . Czernin was then elected first vice chairman.

See also

• Political parties of the Czech Republic

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Break in party Top 09: The prince is leaving, Kalousek is coming , Radio Prague from November 30, 2015
2. ^ As announced, Miroslav Kalousek founds conservative party TOP 09 on June 11, 2009, accessed on December 16, 2018
3. ↑ Společné prohlášení TOP 09 a Starostů pro volby do PS P ČR 2009 (declaration of TOP 09 and Starostové a nezávislí), online at: www.top09.cz /.../ spolecne-prohlaseni ... (PDF; 61 kB) , Czech, accessed April 12, 2011
4. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original dated December 4, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Report from Radio Prague on October 31, 2012, accessed on April 7, 2013 
5. ↑ Miroslav Kalousek se stal šéfem TOP 09 , online at: domaci.ihned.cz/
6. ↑ Volby do Poslanecké sněmovny Parlamentu České republiky konané ve dnech 20.10. - 21.10.2017 , information from the Czech Statistical Office ČSÚ, online at: volby.cz/pls/

Web links

• Official website (Czech)