Pětka

The Pětka or Committee of Five was an unofficial, informal, extra-parliamentary semi-constitutional political forum designed to cope with political difficulties during the First Republic of Czechoslovakia. It was founded in September 1920 and was made up of a council of leaders of the coalition parties that made up the Czechoslovak government at that time. The name comes from the Czech word for "five", and is pronounced pyetka. It played a crucial role in Czechoslovak politics in the era of the first Republic.

The Pětka was founded in 1920 to provide guidance to the weak cabinet of Jan Černý, which is said to have "resembled a ventriloquist’s dummy: it had no political will or voice of its own". At the time the Petka was formed, Czechoslovakia was recovering from the First World War and dealing with the problems it faced as a new state in post-war Europe. The first President of Czechoslovakia, Tomáš Masaryk saw the new Europe as "a laboratory built over the graveyard of the world war, a laboratory that needs the work of all". In this post-war Europe, Masaryk "recognised that his people still lacked the necessary experience and forbearance necessary for parliamentary government" and knew a non-traditional political institution would be needed to maintain control. In order to govern Czechoslovakia it would have been easier for Masaryk to rule as a dictator, however, this was against his democratic ideals. Instead, he acted boldly if not constitutionally, and formed a government of experts, the Petka, in September 1920. In his autobiography, Masaryk states how anxious he was "to ensure the expert elements of the administration and Government".

The five representative experts and their political parties were: Antonín Švehla (Agrarian Party), Alois Rašín (National Democratic Party), Rudolf Bechyně (Social Democratic Party), Jiří Stříbrný (Czechoslovak National Socialist Party) and Jan Šrámek (People's Party). The main force behind the Petka was Antonín Švehla who was to serve as Czechoslovakia’s prime minister between 1922–1926 and 1926–1929 and wield much influence over the government.

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