KDU-ČSL (In Czech, the initials of the Christian and Democratic Union – Czechoslovak People's Party;[15] Czech: Křesťanská a demokratická unie – Československá strana lidová), often shortened to lidovci ("the popular ones"), is a Christian-democratic[2][3] political party in the Czech Republic. The party has taken part in almost every Czech government since 1990. In the June 2006 legislative election, KDU-ČSL won 7.2% of the vote and 13 out of 200 seats. However, in the 2010 election, its vote share dropped to 4.4% and they lost all of its seats. The party regained its parliamentary standing in the 2013 legislative election, winning 14 seats in the new parliament,[16] thus becoming the first party ever to return to the Chamber of Deputies after previously dropping out.

Christian and Democratic Union – Czechoslovak People's Party
Křesťanská a demokratická unie – Československá strana lidová
AbbreviationLidovci
LeaderMarek Výborný
Deputy LeadersPavel Bělobrádek
Monika Brzesková [cs]
Jiří Horák
Eduard Hulicius
Václav Pláteník
Secretary GeneralPavel Hořava
Chamber of Deputies LeaderAleš Dufek
Senate LeaderJosef Klement
MEP LeaderTomáš Zdechovský
FounderJan Šrámek
Founded3 January 1919; 105 years ago (1919-01-03)
Merger ofMSKSSM, KNKSM,
ČKSSKČ, KNKSČ, KSL
HeadquartersPalác Charitas, Karlovo náměstí 5, Prague
NewspaperNový Hlas
Think tankInstitute for Christian Democratic Politics
Youth wingYoung Populars
Women's wingWomen's Association
Membership18,600[1]
Ideology
Political positionCentre[10] to centre-right[13]
National affiliationSpolu
National Front (1945-1989)
European affiliationEuropean People's Party
European Parliament groupEuropean People's Party
International affiliationCentrist Democrat International
Colors  Yellow
  Blue[14]
Chamber of Deputies
23 / 200
Senate
12 / 81
European Parliament
1 / 21
Regional councils
49 / 685
Governors of the regions
1 / 13
Local councils
4,066 / 62,178
Party flag
Website
www.kdu.cz Edit this at Wikidata

History

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After the German occupation of Czechoslovakia, Šrámek served as head of Czechoslovak government in exile (in the United Kingdom). After 1945, ČSL was part of the national unity government, forming its most right-wing section.[17]

On 12 April 2017, KDU-ČSL signed an agreement with STAN to participate in 2017 legislative election as a coalition. Coalition needed to get more 10% of votes get over threshold.[18] The coalition disintegrated before the election,[19] thus the party went into the elections standalone, receiving 5.8% of votes.

In March 2019 the party was officially renamed to KDU-ČSL, its common abbreviation and Marek Výborný became a new party leader.[20] After the death of his wife announced Marek Výborný in November 2019 his resignation for personal reasons.[21]

Membership

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KDU-ČSL had 27,662 Members in 2015 which is the second largest member base of any party in the Czech Republic. The number has been decreasing since the 1990s when the party had 100,000 Members. It is caused by high average age of members.[22]

1991 1992 1999 2008 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2019
95,435 88,000 60,000 40,000[23] 33,000 29,976 28,541 27,662[24] 26,420[25] 21,870

Party strongholds

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KDU-ČSL is known to have very strong electoral core concentrated primarily in South Moravia. The party has very stable electoral support thanks to the rural voters in Moravia and has managed to gain seats in the Chamber of Deputies during every election cycle in the Czech Republic since 1990 with the exception of 2010.[26]

Leaders

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Ex leader and mayor of Zlín region Jiří Čunek

Name of the party over time

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Headquarters of KDU ČSL, Charitas Palace in Prague

Symbols

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KDU-ČSL had many symbols through history, with the current logo depicting a Christian cross on a linden leaf.[27]

Logos

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Election results

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Czechoslovakia wide elections

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Legislative elections

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Date Leader Votes Seats Position
# % # ± Size
1920 Collective leadership 699,728 11.3
33 / 281
  33 2nd Opposition
1925 Jan Šrámek 691,238 9.7
31 / 300
  2 3rd Coalition
1929 Jan Šrámek 623,340 8.4
25 / 300
  6 5th Coalition
1935 Jan Šrámek 615,804 7.5
22 / 300
  3 6th Coalition
1946 Jan Šrámek 1,111,009 15.7
46 / 300
  24 3rd Coalition
1948 as part of National Front
23 / 300
  23 4th Bloc
1954
20 / 368
  3 3rd Bloc
1960
16 / 300
  4 4th Bloc
1964
20 / 300
  4 4th Bloc
1971
8 / 200
  12 4th Bloc
1976
11 / 200
  3 4th Bloc
1981
12 / 200
  1 3rd Bloc
1986
11 / 200
  1 4th Bloc
1990 Josef Bartončík 629,359 5.9
9 / 150
  2 5th Support
1992 Josef Lux 388,122 4.0
7 / 150
  2 7th Coalition

Devolved assembly elections

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Czech assembly elections

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Date Leader Votes Seats Position
# % # ± Size
1968 as part of National Front
25 / 200
  25 3rd Bloc
1971
15 / 200
  10 2nd Bloc
1976
14 / 200
  1 3rd Bloc
1981
14 / 200
  0 2nd Bloc
1986
14 / 200
  0 2nd Bloc
1990 Josef Bartončík 607,134 8.42
20 / 200
  6 4th Coalition
1992 Josef Lux 406,341 6.28
15 / 200
  5 5th Coalition

Slovak assembly elections

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Date Leader Votes Seats Position
# % # ± Size
1928 Martin Mičura 43,689 3.31
2 / 54
  2 8th
1935 Martin Mičura 3.0
1 / 54
  1 8th

Czech Republic wide elections

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Legislative elections

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Date Leader Votes Seats Position
# % # ± Size
1996 Josef Lux 489,349 8.08
18 / 200
  3 4th  ODS–KDU-ČSL–ODA
1998 Josef Lux 537,013 8.99
20 / 200
  2 4th Opposition
2002 Cyril Svoboda 680,670 14.27
22 / 200
  11 4th ČSSD–KDU-ČSL–US-DEU
Part of Coalition, which won 31 seats in total
2006 Miroslav Kalousek 386,706 7.23
13 / 200
  18 4th ODS–KDU-ČSL–SZ
2010 Cyril Svoboda 229,717 4.39
0 / 200
  13 6th  No seats
2013 Pavel Bělobrádek 336.970 6.78
14 / 200
  14 7th  ČSSD–ANO–KDU-ČSL
2017 Pavel Bělobrádek 293,643 5.80
10 / 200
  4 7th Opposition
2021 Marian Jurečka 1,493,701 27.79
23 / 200
  13 2nd SPOLUPirStan
Part of Spolu coalition, which won 71 seats in total

Senate elections

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Election First round Second round Seats gained
Votes % Places* Votes % Places*
1996** 274,316 9.9 4th 247,819 10.7 3rd
13 / 81
1998*** 255,785 26.6 2nd 166,483 31.0 2nd
5 / 27
2000 121,355 14.1 4th 137,515 24.4 2nd
8 / 27
2002 58,858 8.8 4th 47,049 5.7 4th
1 / 27
2004 97,956 13.5 3rd 54,501 11.4 3rd
3 / 27
2006 125,388 11.8 4th 59,603 10.4 3rd
4 / 27
2008 82,870 7.9 - 42,225 5.13 -
0 / 27
2010 87,182 7.6 4th 42,990 6.32 4th
2 / 27
2012 61,006 6.94 4th 14,995 2.92 4th
1 / 27
2014 84,328 8.21 5th 77,103 16.27 2nd
4 / 27
2016 74,709 8.48 5th 78,448 18.50 2nd
6 / 27
2018 99,383 9.12 4th 34,833 8.33 5th
2 / 27
2020 82,814 8.30 4th 65,397 14.47 3rd
3 / 27
2022 120,972 10.87 3rd 74,696 15.57 3rd
7 / 27
2024 46,518 5.86 4th 15,635 4.00 5th
2 / 27

* Places are by number of votes gained.
** The whole Senate was elected. Only one third of Senate was elected in all subsequent elections.
***Participated as Part of Four-Coalition

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 Václav Havel 109 63.37 Won
1998 Václav Havel 130 70.65 Runner-up 146 52.3 Won
2003 (Petr Pithart)

Jan Sokol

128 46.55 Runner-up 129 48.13 Runner-up 124 46.6 Lost
2008 Václav Klaus[28] 141 50.90 Runner-up 141 52.81 Runner-up 141 55.95 Won
Direct Election Candidate First round result Second round result
Votes %Votes Result Votes %Votes Result
2013 Zuzana Roithová 255,045 4.95 6th supported Karel Schwarzenberg
2018 Jiří Drahoš 1,369,601 26.60 Runner-up 2,701,206 48.63 Lost
2023[a] Petr Pavel 1,975,056 35.40 Runner-up 3,358,926 58.33 Won
Danuše Nerudová 777,080 13.93 3rd place supported Petr Pavel
Pavel Fischer 376,705 6.75 4th place supported Petr Pavel
  1. ^ The SPOLU coalition supported 3 independent candidates for this election.

European Parliament

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Election List leader Votes % Seats +/– EP Group
2004 Zuzana Roithová 223,383 9.57 (#4)
2 / 24
New EPP-ED
2009 180,451 7.64 (#4)
2 / 22
  0 EPP
2014 Pavel Svoboda 150,792 9.95 (#5)
3 / 22
  1
2019 171,723 7.24 (#6)
2 / 21
  1
2024[a] Alexandr Vondra 661,250 22.27 (#2)
1 / 21
  1
  1. ^ Run as part of the SPOLU coalition.

Local elections

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Year Vote Vote % Seats
1990 8,845,562 11,5 8,083
1994 9,260,542   7.23   7,616 
1998 7,206,346  11.18  7,119 
2002 7,728,402  9.58  6,013 
2006 6,263,980  5.76  5,049 
2010 4,938,960  5.47  3,738 
2014 4,865,956  4.91  3,792 
2018 5,599,336  5.02  3,633 

Regional elections

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Year Vote Vote % Seats Places
2000 537,012 22.86
72 / 675
2nd
2004 226,016  10.67 
84 / 675
4th 
2008 193,911  6.65 
56 / 675
4th 
2012 261,724  9.87 
61 / 675
4th 
2016 159,610  6.30 
61 / 675
5th 
2020 252,598  9.12 
53 / 675
5th 
Region[29] Coalition partner # of
overall votes
% of
overall vote
Seats Governance[30]
# ± Position
Central Bohemian STAN 92,903 22.21
2 / 65
  2   5th STAN–ODS–PiratesTOP 09+Greens-Voice
South Bohemian TOP 09 20,798 10.45
4 / 55
    6th ODSKDU-ČSL+TOP 09ČSSD–JIH12
Plzeň ADS and Non-Partisians 7,588 4.36   2   11th ODS+TOP 09STANPirates
Karlovy Vary ODS 5,870 7.35
2 / 45
  1   8th STAN+TOP 09-Pirates-ODS+KDU ČSL-Local movements
Ústí nad Labem ODS 24,739 12.37
1 / 55
  1   8th ANO–ODS–TOP 09+Greens
Liberec TOP 09 5,328 3.83     7th Mayors for Liberec RegionPirates–ODS
Hradec Králové VPM and Non-Partisians 14,738 8.32
4 / 45
    5th ODS+STAN+VČ–KDU-ČSLPiratesTOP 09+HDK
Pardubice SNK-ED and Non-Partisians 22,280 13.41
4 / 45
  1   5th ČSSD–ODS+TOP 09KDU-ČSLSTAN
Vysočina 19,082 11.96
6 / 45
  1   3rd ODS+STO–PiratesKDU-ČSLČSSDSTAN
South Moravian 56,423 15.54
11 / 65
    2nd KDU-ČSLPirates–ODS–STAN
Olomouc TOP 09 and Greens 34,519 18.43
6 / 55
  1   4th STAN+PiratesKDU-ČSL+TOP 09–ODS
Zlín 35,782 18.62
9 / 45
  3   2nd ANOPirates–ODS–ČSSD
Moravian-Silesian 30,190 9.57
7 / 65
  1   4th ANO–ODS+TOP 09KDU-ČSLČSSD

Further reading

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  • Brenner, Christiane; Gehler, Michael; Kaiser, Wolfram (2004). "A Missed Opportunity to Oppose State Socialism? The People's Party in Chechoslavakia". Christian Democracy in Europe since 1945. Routledge. pp. 151–168. ISBN 0-7146-5662-3.
  • Suppan, Arnold (2004). "Catholic People's Parties in East Central Europe: The Bohemian Lands and Slovakia". Political Catholicism in Europe 1918-1945. Vol. 1. Routledge. pp. 178–192.

Notes

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References

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  1. ^ "4. Srpna | Události". Czech Television. Retrieved 15 September 2024.
  2. ^ a b Nordsieck, Wolfram (15 September 2019). "Czechia". Parties and Elections in Europe.
  3. ^ a b Magone, José (2010). Contemporary European Politics: A Comparative Introduction. Routledge. p. 456. ISBN 978-0-203-84639-1.
  4. ^ [2][3]
  5. ^ Terry, Chris (20 February 2014). "Christian and Democratic Union – Czechoslovak People's Party (KDU-CSL)". The Democratic Society. Archived from the original on 27 June 2018.
  6. ^ "Czech KDU-CSL congress re-elects Belobradek party chairman". České Noviny (in Czech). 23 May 2015. Archived from the original on 14 October 2015. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  7. ^ [5][6]
  8. ^ "Životní prostředí chráníme pro člověka". www.kdu.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 16 October 2024.
  9. ^ "Vlevo dole: Lidovci rozhodnou, jestli jsou žlutí, zelení nebo černí - Seznam Zprávy". www.seznamzpravy.cz (in Czech). 16 October 2024. Retrieved 16 October 2024.
  10. ^ "Q&A: Czech election". BBC News. BBC. 4 June 2016. Retrieved 15 September 2024.
  11. ^ "Středopravicová-konzervativní strana tu už existuje, říká Šojdrová. Je to KDU-ČSL!". KDU-ČSL (in Czech). Retrieved 8 October 2015.
  12. ^ Keudel-Kaiser, Dorothea (2014). Government Formation in Central and Eastern Europe: The Case of Minority Governments. Budrich UniPress Ltd. p. 105. ISBN 978-3-86388-237-2. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
  13. ^ [11][12]
  14. ^ "Lidovci Základní Manuál Značky". KDU-ČSL (in Czech). Retrieved 15 September 2024.
  15. ^ "Stanovy". KDU-ČSL (in Czech). Retrieved 15 September 2024.
  16. ^ Velinger, Jan (26 October 2013). "Social Democrats win election but result is poorer than expected". Radio Prague. Retrieved 26 October 2013. [dead link]
  17. ^ Alte, Rüdiger (2003). Die Auenpolitik der Tschechoslowakei und die Entwicklung der internationalen Beziehungen 1946-1947. Oldenbourg Verlag. p. 45. ISBN 978-3-486-56617-8.
  18. ^ "Lidovci a Starostové podepsali koaliční smlouvu, za premiéra chtějí Bělobrádka". ČT24 (in Czech). Czech Television. 12 April 2017.
  19. ^ "Koalice nebude. Vedení KDU-ČSL vyzvalo STAN, ať vstoupí na jejich kandidátky". Lidové noviny (in Czech). Mafra. 18 July 2017. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  20. ^ "Lidovci zvolili vedení a upravili název strany na zkratku KDU-ČSL". České Noviny (in Czech). Czech News Agency. 30 March 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  21. ^ Kenety, Brian (18 November 2019). "Christian Democrat Leader May Resign in the Wake of Wife's Death". Radio Prague International. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
  22. ^ Martínek, Jan (12 April 2015). "Stranám utíkají i vymírají členové po tisících". Novinky.cz (in Czech). Borgis. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
  23. ^ "Členům KSČM je v průměru 70 let, zjistila si strana". Novinky.cz (in Czech). Borgis. 7 May 2008. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
  24. ^ "Stranám utíkají i vymírají členové po tisících". Novinky.cz (in Czech). Borgis. 12 April 2015. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
  25. ^ "Základny tradičních politických stran klesají, mnohé partaje proto sbírají registrované příznivce". Euro Zprávy (in Czech). Retrieved 20 January 2017.
  26. ^ Kopecký, Josef; Zvolánek, Jan; Formáčková, Lucie (30 May 2019). "Sjezd KDU-ČSL rozhoduje o budoucnosti Čunka i celé strany". Mladá fronta Dnes (in Czech). Mafra. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
  27. ^ "KDU manuál 2012" (PDF). KDU-ČSL (in Czech). Retrieved 15 September 2024.
  28. ^ Šídlo, Jindřich (15 January 2008). "Lidovci jsou pro Klause". Hospodářské noviny (in Czech). Economia. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
  29. ^ Czech Statistical Office
  30. ^ Kašpar, Mirko (14 December 2020). "Přehledně: Všechny kraje už mají vedení. Starostové a ODS získali čtyři hejtmany". Aktualne.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 15 September 2024.
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Czech

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English

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