A small departure from my usual blithering this week. Today and tomorrow people in the Czech Republic are voting in a new parliament. I thought some of you might be curious. In many ways Czech politics is like a trip through the looking glass and if you'd care to join me down below I'll fill you in on some of the details.
But it's still an open thread y'know ...
The usual disclaimers apply. This is a community open thread diary. It's being posted to the Street Prophets group but we've no membership requirements in the comments. All are welcome to join in, relax, have a cookie. You don't have to react to my blithering; it's an open thread. You can decorate the comments in your own style.
If you're unfamiliar with the long view of the Czech political situation it should be enough background for you to know that after the Austro-Hungarian Empire was broken up at the end of the first World War the young Republic of Czechoslovakia enjoyed only a couple decades of democracy before the German Nazis came in and played at tyrant overlord before they were booted out and the Communists were handed the keys to the coffers. Things were actually looking up until the Soviets invaded and set up their own puppets in 1968. And these were often puppets who looked to Stalin for their cues. Mostly thanks to Michail Gorbachev's refusal to send Soviet troops into neighboring states to quell popular uprisings (sorry, Ronnie) the Czechoslovakians were able to have their own velvet version of the rather bloodier revolution that had taken place in Poland just a few months earlier.
Ah, democracy--
Well, it's been a roller coaster ride of graft and corruption ever since. The privatization of state owned resources and companies was a disaster from the beginning and many of the same old faces from positions of power under Communism managed to keep their snouts in the slop bucket.
I've known a few people who worked in the government-- those who were elected officials have long ago left in disgust and returned to jobs in the private sector. Another friend who recently refused to sign a budgetary approval of one official's luxury vacation with his family was fired for reasons supposedly unrelated to the refusal. The one friend I have who still works in the bureaucracy claims that about a third of all the money in bids on projects goes to grease the mill.
However, we do have our bright moments.
The uncovering of a massive bribery/influence peddling scandal in the spring of this year led to many sudden vacancies in the top positions in government. When the current President selected his own friends to fill those vacancies the whole mess dissolved in a vote of no-confidence. A lack of confidence in people appointed by President Zeman is understandable if you know a few things about him. So, this parliamentarian republic has thrown all the bums out-- well, except the President. He's still there. And no, he's not any better than the last Czech president--
Been kinda downhill since Havel.
It's important to note that unlike Americans who like to squawk about Fascism and Communism (well, Stalinism really), claiming that this or that is one or the other seemingly at random, Czechs have actually lived under both. And yet, both Communism and Fascism are actually represented by official political parties. The Communist Party of Czech and Moravia or KSČM are a bit bolder than the Fascists which happily go by the name of Republicans. Our goose-stepping nitwits with bad haircuts have trouble keeping their boat afloat but in one form or another a Republican party manages to keep itself on the list of registered political parties. And there are a lot of political parties over here.
It is an interesting system though, this parliamentary republic. Czechs cast their votes for parties and then the parties more or less choose who'll be doing their representing. In the Prague area there are about 20 political parties vying for votes in today's election I'm only familiar with a few of them but, just for my own amusement you understand, I'll list them. When a Czech gets their fat blue envelope of voter materials in the mail they get a numbered sheet of paper with potential representatives for each party. The number given to each party's bit of paper is determined by lottery. Often you see campaign signs simply saying which number they want you to vote for.
#1 the Czech Party (lit. "Side") of Social Democrats, ČSSD. They potentially stand to gain the most in this election. They've managed to be one of the two biggest sides in Czech politics since they were founded and their main opposition is the party of the corrupt idiots that were caught up in that bribery/influence peddling scandal that started this mess. Although they're considered the "left" over here that's just Communism Lite. They have a liking for their own sleazy characters and are no strangers to scandal.
#2 the Side of Free Citizens, Svobodní is trying to make a name for itself in this election. I don't remember hearing about them before this and a couple of my more politically active friends on Facebook have recommended them to me. Sounds like yet another break away group from the "right" trying to avoid being stained with the bribery scandal.
#3 The Czech Pirate Party, Piráti is certainly popular in the dorms where you can find all the latest movies to download for free. A surprising number of their candidates are actually over 30. Some people are taking them seriously as a protest vote.
#4 Top 09 is the party founded by a bit of old Austro-Hungarian royalty. Karel Schwartzenberg lost to the drunken, provocative, performance art piece in the last presidential race-- the first presidential race (first popular/direct election for president). Not much name recognition otherwise for this side but as a moderate, "right" alternative they've got a good chance to pick up some seats. I like Karel and he's even more popular with the young whippersnappers than the Pirates.
#5 Hlavu Vzhůru which word for word is "head up" meaning "chin up"-- I suppose they're offering hope. I guess they're another offshoot of #6 ODS. One of their candidates works at my local municipal house. I could ask around about her. I suppose the fact that our old pen thief is supporting them could be something of a "heads up".
#6 ah, the Citizens Democratic Party, ODS these are the clumsy buffoons who got their paws caught in the cookie jar. I'm expecting them to lose big but they still may end up being the heart of any right-side coalition just because for years it was pretty much just them and ČSSD battling it out. I suppose it's worth mentioning that ODS was also the party of Klaus-- uh, the oh so clever pen thief from that video. It was even earlier scandals with these lunkheads that inspired Top 09 to form as an alternative conservative voice-- and yeah, a "liberal conservative" for some reason doesn't count as an oxymoron in the Czech Republic. Recent polling has Top 09 taking up much of ODS' lost ground-- unfortunately the Communist party is going to be making similar gains and will probably have a bigger slice of the pie than Top 09.
Hmm, where are pages #7 and #8? They're probably parties based outside of Prague who didn't manage to register a candidate here. People who live in those areas probably have numbers 7 and 8 in their pile of ballots.
#9 is for a party calling itself simply Změna or "change"-- I guess we'll see.
#10 is for a party of independent business owners. Kinda makes sense to put them in a corner by themselves.
#11 KDU-ČSL Christian and Democratic Union - Czech People's Party always kinda in the running-- supposedly in opposition to the Communists. One of their former leaders, Miroslav Kalousek left to help form Top 09 but he's not seen as much of an asset by anybody these days. The party formed to support the president's views "Zemanovci" has spent a lot of money and energy trying to get scandal to stick to Kalousek.
#12 is the oddest thing in the pile. The name of the party is a long rant that covers almost the entire page. Caps lock and extra exclamation points anyone? But hey, they're on the ballot.
#13 goes to Suverenita, "Sovereignty" the self-proclaimed "Strana zdravého rozumu" which translates to something like "the party of clear thinking" or more literally: "healthy reasoning". Yeah, points for ambition there.
#14 is I guess a caucus of independent citizens-- there's just one listed here though. Good luck, George!
#15 ah, and here we have the "Party for the Rights of Citizens", better known as Zemanovci basically the well-funded fans of fearless leader Miloš Zeman they're expected to take a respectable little slice of the vote. They might not last after he drinks himself into a diabetic coma though. Their signs are plastered all over the place. Some of the less carefully worded ones were very popular targets of vandalism. Wish I had a photo of the billboard about three blocks from my apartment that read: "Já Dám Hlas Zemanovců" that some clever whelp added a mere two letters to and created "Já Dám CHlast Zemanovců" changing "I give (my) vote to Zemanovci" to "I give booze to Zemanovci". I rather liked that.
#16 carries the enigmatic name of Občané 2011, "Citizens 2011" seems a bit odd to put the date your political party started directly in the name but enough people are sick of business as usual that little groups like this, just by their lack of actual history, have a chance to pick up a seat. That's one thing I like about parliamentary governments over the American model.
#17 The Dawn of Straight (Honest) Democracy Tomio Okamura. Okamura is an interesting character that was in the news during the presidential election. He's a Czech-Japanese businessman who lives in Zlín. He's the face of one of just about the only regionally isolated party (and there are dozens of parties for specific regions and towns) that has managed to get the attention of folks in Prague. He is very popular in his home region though and is pretty much guaranteed a seat in parliament.
#18 the Worker's Party for Social Justice-- no idea what their cause is. Sounds like disgruntled Communists to me. I may have to research this one a bit.
#19 Again, no ballot number 19. I guess they didn't make the cut in the big city.
#20 is an interesting one. This is ANO 2011 Their acronym for dissatisfied citizens "Ano" means "Yes" in Czech. They're making a big show this year and the polls have them taking just as many seats as Top 09. They have the slickest, most appealing ad campaign of any party this year and it is everywhere. YouTube is saturated with ads from Ano. They seem to be mostly counting on the ignorance and apathy of voters though. And they will do very well. The main character driving the party is a man named Babiš who turns out to have been one of the greasier collaborators with the Czechoslovakian version of the KGB under communism. And his personal fortune that is his touted claim to fame and presented as evidence of his incorruptibility has rather questionable origins. Perhaps a bit of the ol' Romney-esque cutthroat business tactics and the creation of regional monopolies.
#21 KSČM the Kommunist Side of Czech and Moravia. Here they are, in all their glory and swiftly gaining popularity among young voters. But it's the same old Communist party that shed all that blood just a few short years ago; the same people, unrepentant. They'll make some gains this election and it scares the hell out of many of us. Now, I've known some sweet, old commies but this party isn't just the misguided and myopic nostalgia for yesteryear-- it's the gnawing teeth of totalitarianism coming back up through the floorboards.
#22 Lev 21 This group always makes me laugh. The semi-retired scum at the top of Commie-Lite ČSSD (#1) left after scandal fouled their party a couple of years ago to form Lev 21. "Lev" is the Czech word for lion, the national symbol and can also be a shortened version of the word "levá" which means "left". And yet the full name of the party is Národní socialisté - levice 21. století literally, "National Socialists - the left of the 21st century" How soon they forget what National Socialist meant in Czechoslovakia back in the 30's and 40's.
#23 The Green Party. No lack of youthful enthusiasm here but they never seem to get very far in national elections. An outsider's chance of representation.
#24 Koruna Česká The Czech Crown - the Monarchist Party of Czech, Moravia, and Slezsko. Who'd have thought somebody would be cheering for the royals?
And that's the lot. There are dozens of other parties that didn't make the cut this round it's a pretty amazing spectacle to watch though. Not being a full citizen here means that's pretty much all I can do anyway.
Well, perhaps a bit of cheering from the stands eh?
3:07 PM PT: Finished off the list, made a few changes to it as well. Hoping for the best-- just ticked past midnight here. The polls close in another 14 hours.