Civic Democratic Party
Občanská demokratická strana |
|
---|---|
Abbreviation | ODS |
Leader | Petr Fiala |
Founder | Václav Klaus |
Founded | 21 April 1991 |
Preceded by | Civic Forum |
Headquarters | Truhlářská 9, Prague |
Newspaper | Right Riverbank |
Think tank | CEVRO Liberal Conservative Academy |
Youth wing |
Young Conservatives Young Civic Democrats |
Membership (May 2017) | 14,005 |
Ideology |
Majority: Liberal conservatism Klausism Euroscepticism Factions: Social conservatism Neoconservatism National conservatism National liberalism |
Political position |
Centre-right to Right-wing |
European affiliation | Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe |
International affiliation | International Democrat Union |
European Parliament group | European Conservatives and Reformists |
Colours | Blue |
Anthem |
"Blue is Good" |
Chamber of Deputies |
16 / 200
|
Senate |
10 / 81
|
European Parliament |
2 / 21
|
Regional councils |
76 / 675
|
Local councils |
2,398 / 62,300
|
Website | |
http://www.ods.cz/ | |
The Civic Democratic Party (Czech: Občanská demokratická strana, ODS) is a liberal-conservativepolitical party in the Czech Republic. It holds 16 seats in the Chamber of Deputies after being marginalized in the 2013 legislative election.
Founded in 1991 as the pro-free market wing of the Civic Forum by Václav Klaus and modelled on the British Conservative Party. The ODS won the 1992 legislative election, and has remained in government for most of the Czech Republic's independence. From every elections of Chamber of Deputies until 2013 it emerged as one of the two strongest parties. Václav Klaus served as the first Prime Minister of the Czech Republic after 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 opposition since July 2013. The party is currently led by Petr Fiala, who was elected leader on a party convention in January 2014.