Communist Party of
Bohemia and Moravia Komunistická strana Čech a Moravy |
|
---|---|
Leader | Vojtěch Filip |
Founded | 1989 |
Preceded by | Communist Party of Czechoslovakia |
Headquarters | Politických vězňů 9, Prague |
Think tank | Centrum strategických a teoretických studií KSČM |
Youth wing |
Communist Youth Union Young Communists |
Membership (2016) | 42,994 |
Ideology |
Communism Marxism Soft euroscepticism |
Political position | Left-wing to Far-left |
European affiliation | Party of the European Left (observer) |
International affiliation | International Meeting of Communist and Workers' Parties |
European Parliament group | European United Left–Nordic Green Left |
Colours | Red |
Slogan | With people for people |
Chamber of Deputies |
33 / 200
|
Senate |
2 / 81
|
European Parliament |
3 / 21
|
Regional councils |
86 / 675
|
Local councils |
2,564 / 62,300
|
Party flag | |
Website | |
http://www.kscm.cz/ | |
The Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (Czech: Komunistická strana Čech a Moravy, KSČM) is a communist party in the Czech Republic. It has a membership of 42,994 (2016) and is a member party of the European United Left–Nordic Green Left bloc in the European Parliament.
Along with the Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova it is one of only two former ruling parties in post-communist Central Eastern Europe which has not dropped the communist title from its name, although it changed its party program to suit laws adopted after 1989. For most of the first two decades after the Velvet Revolution, the party was politically isolated and accused of extremism, but it has moved closer to the Czech Social Democratic Party (ČSSD). After the 2012 regional elections, it began governing in coalition with the ČSSD in 10 regions. It has never been part of governing coalition in executive branch. Its youth organisation was banned from 2006 to 2010, and there have been calls from other parties to outlaw the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia. Until 2013 it was the only political party in Czech Republic printing its own newspapers, called Haló noviny.
The Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia was formed in 1989 by the Congress of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, which decided to create a party for the territories of Bohemia and Moravia (including Czech Silesia), the areas that were to become the Czech Republic. The new party's organization was significantly more democratic and decentralized than the previous party and gave local district branches of the party significant autonomy.
In 1990, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, a federation of the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia and the Communist Party of Slovakia, was formed. Later, the Communist Party of Slovakia changed its name to the Party of the Democratic Left, and the federation broke up in 1992.