Civic Democratic Party (Czech Republic)

Civic Democratic Party
Občanská demokratická strana
AbbreviationODS
LeaderPetr Fiala
Deputy LeadersZbyněk Stanjura
Alexandr Vondra
Martin Baxa
Martin Kupka
Eva Decroix
Chamber of Deputies LeaderMarek Benda
Senate LeaderZdeněk Nytra
MEP LeaderVeronika Vrecionová
FounderVáclav Klaus
Founded21 April 1991 (1991-04-21)
Preceded byCivic Forum
HeadquartersTruhlářská 9, Prague
Think tankCEVRO[1]
Right Riverbank[2]
Youth wingYoung Conservatives
Young Civic Democrats
Membership (2021)Decrease 12,500[3][needs update]
IdeologyConservatism
Economic liberalism
Political positionCentre-right to right-wing
National affiliationSPOLU
European affiliationEuropean Conservatives and Reformists Party
European Parliament groupEuropean Conservatives and Reformists
International affiliationInternational Democracy Union
Colours  Blue
Chamber of Deputies
35 / 200
Senate
23 / 81
European Parliament
3 / 21
Regional councils
106 / 675
Governors of the regions
1 / 13
Local councils
2,294 / 61,780
Prague City Assembly
9 / 65
Party flag
Flag of the Civic Democratic Party
Website
www.ods.cz Edit this at Wikidata

The Civic Democratic Party (Czech: Občanská demokratická strana, ODS) is a conservative and economic liberal political party in the Czech Republic. The party sits between centre-right and right-wing on the political spectrum, and holds 34 seats in the Chamber of Deputies, and is the second strongest party by number of seats following the 2021 election. It is the only political party in the Czech Republic that has maintained an uninterrupted representation in the Chamber of Deputies.

Founded in 1991 as the pro–free market wing of the Civic Forum by Václav Klaus and modeled on the British Conservative Party,[4] the ODS won the 1992 legislative election, and has remained in government for most of the Czech Republic's independence. In every legislative election (except for that of 2013) it emerged as one of the two strongest parties. Václav Klaus served as the first prime minister of the Czech Republic after the partition of Czechoslovakia, from 1993 to 1997. Mirek Topolánek, who succeeded him as leader of the party in December 2002, served as prime minister from 2006 to 2009. In the 2010 election, the party lost 28 seats, finishing second, but as the largest party right of the centre, it formed a centre-right government with Petr Nečas as prime minister. In the 2013 legislative election, the party was marginalized by only securing 16 seats in the Chamber of Deputies, relegating the party to the opposition from July 2013 to December 2021. In the 2017 legislative election, it has partly recovered and secured 25 seats in the Chamber of Deputies, making it the second strongest party in chamber. The party is currently being led by Prime Minister Petr Fiala, who has been leader since the 2014 party convention.

The ODS is a member of the International Democracy Union, and co-founded together with the UK Conservative Party, the soft Eurosceptic European Conservatives and Reformists Party and the European Conservatives and Reformists group in the European Parliament.

  1. ^ Němeček, Tomáš (26 June 2008). "Mít diplom od Langera". Hospodářské Noviny. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
  2. ^ "O nás ~ Pravý břeh – Institut Petra Fialy". Pravý břeh. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
  3. ^ "Členská základna ODS je větší než ČSSD, z mladých uskupení nejvíce roste SPD". ČT24 (in Czech). Česká televize. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  4. ^ Hanley (2008), p. xi

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