Civic Democratic Party (Czech Republic)

Civic Democratic Party

Občanská demokratická strana
Civic Democratic Party Občanská demokratická strana
Abbreviation	ODS
Leader	Petr Fiala
Deputy Leaders	Zbyněk Stanjura; Alexandr Vondra; Martin Baxa; Martin Kupka
Chamber of Deputies Leader	Marek Benda
Senate Leader	Zdeněk Nytra
MEP Leader	Veronika Vrecionová
Founder	Václav Klaus
Founded	21 April 1991
Preceded by	Civic Forum
Headquarters	Truhlářská 9, Prague
Think tank	CEVRO; Right Riverbank
Youth wing	Young Conservatives; Young Civic Democrats
Membership (2021)	12,500[needs update]
Ideology	Conservatism; Soft Euroscepticism;
Political position	Centre-right to right-wing
National affiliation	SPOLU
European affiliation	European Conservatives and Reformists Party
International affiliation	International Democracy Union
European Parliament group	European Conservatives and Reformists
Colours	Blue
Chamber of Deputies	34 / 200
Senate	23 / 81
European Parliament	4 / 21
Regional councils	99 / 675
Governors of the regions	3 / 13
Local councils	2,294 / 61,780
Prague City Assembly	9 / 65
Party flag
Website
	www.ods.cz
	Politics of the Czech Republic; Political parties; Elections;

The Civic Democratic Party (Czech: Občanská demokratická strana, ODS) is a conservative and Eurosceptic political party in the Czech Republic. The party generally sits centre-right to right-wing on the political spectrum, and holds 34 seats in the Chamber of Deputies, and is the second strongest party by number of seats following the 2021 election. It is the only political party in the Czech Republic that has maintained an uninterrupted representation in the Chamber of Deputies.

Founded in 1991 as the pro–free market wing of the Civic Forum by Václav Klaus and modeled on the British Conservative Party,^[4] the ODS won the 1992 legislative election, and has remained in government for most of the Czech Republic's independence. In every legislative election (except for that of 2013) it emerged as one of the two strongest parties. Václav Klaus served as the first prime minister of the Czech Republic after the 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 the opposition from July 2013 to December 2021. In the 2017 legislative election, it has partly recovered and secured 25 seats in the Chamber of Deputies, making it the second strongest party in chamber. The party is currently being led by Prime Minister Petr Fiala, who has been leader since the 2014 party convention.

The ODS is a member of the International Democracy Union, and co-founded together with the UK Conservative Party, the soft Eurosceptic European Conservatives and Reformists Party and the European Conservatives and Reformists group in the European Parliament.

^ Němeček, Tomáš (26 June 2008). "Mít diplom od Langera". Hospodářské Noviny. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
^ "O nás ~ Pravý břeh – Institut Petra Fialy". Pravý břeh. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
^ "Členská základna ODS je větší než ČSSD, z mladých uskupení nejvíce roste SPD". ČT24 (in Czech). Česká televize. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
^ Hanley (2008), p. xi

[1] Němeček, Tomáš (26 June 2008). "Mít diplom od Langera". Hospodářské Noviny. Retrieved 2 June 2015.

[2] "O nás ~ Pravý břeh – Institut Petra Fialy". Pravý břeh. Retrieved 11 March 2023.

[Členská_základna_ODS_je_větší_než_ČSSD,_z_mladých_uskupení_nejvíce_roste_SPD-3] "Členská základna ODS je větší než ČSSD, z mladých uskupení nejvíce roste SPD". ČT24 (in Czech). Česká televize. Retrieved 30 November 2021.

[4] Hanley (2008), p. xi

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