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Freedom and Direct Democracy

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Not to be confused with Social Democratic Party of Germany, also abbreviated as SPD.
Freedom and Direct Democracy
Svoboda a přímá demokracie
AbbreviationSPD
LeaderTomio Okamura
Deputy LeadersRadim Fiala
Ivan David
Radek Rozvoral
Radovan Vích
Founded5 May 2015; 10 years ago (2015-05-05)
Split fromDawn of Direct Democracy
HeadquartersRytířská 6, Prague[1]
NewspaperNa vlastní oči[2]
Youth wingMladí Espéďáci
Membership (2022)10,682[3]
Ideology
Political positionFar-right
National affiliationSPD–Tricolour–Svobodní–PRO
European affiliationID Party (2015–2024)
ESN Party (since 2024)
European Parliament groupID Group (2019–2024)
ESN Group (since 2024)[23]
Colours  Blue
Chamber of Deputies
19 / 200
Senate
0 / 81
European Parliament
1 / 21
Regional councils
35 / 675
Governors of the regions
0 / 13
Local councils
492 / 62,300
Website
spd.cz

Freedom and Direct Democracy (Czech: Svoboda a přímá demokracie, SPD) is a far-right[37] political party in the Czech Republic.[38] It is led by Tomio Okamura and it holds 19 seats in the Chamber of Deputies.

It is nationalist,[39] neo-fascist,[43] espouses right-wing populism,[44] expresses opposition to immigration[15][16] and is staunchly Eurosceptic,[5][18] while in their political program they state their support for direct democracy.[6]

At the end of 2022, the party had 10,682 members and was the fastest growing party in the country in terms of members.[3]

History

[edit]

The party was founded in May 2015 by Tomio Okamura and Radim Fiala when eight Members of Parliament split from the Dawn of Direct Democracy parliamentary group. As the party was newly-formed in that parliamentary term, these MPs sat as independents until the 2017 Czech legislative election. Following that election, the party held 22 seats in the Czech Chamber of Deputies.

Freedom and Direct Democracy is named after the European Parliament Eurosceptic political group Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy.[45][46][47] The party has links with Marine Le Pen's National Front which is a member of the Europe of Nations and Freedom, a separate Eurosceptic political group in the European Parliament,[48] and Marine Le Pen endorsed SPD before the 2017 Czech legislative election.[49]

In December 2017, SPD hosted a conference of the Movement for a Europe of Nations and Freedom in Prague, with parties such as the French National Front, Dutch Party for Freedom, Freedom Party of Austria and Lega Nord of Italy.[50]

In 2019, following the European Parliament elections, SPD entered the European Parliament with two MEPs, who sit with the Identity and Democracy group.[51]

In July 2020, SPD MP Tereza Hyťhová defected to become the third MP for the Tricolour Citizens' Movement.[52]

During the 2021 Czech legislative election, SPD finished fourth with 20 MPs.[53]

On 25 February 2022,[54] the party established its own think tank, the Institute of Freedom and Direct Democracy,[55] focused on the "development of democracy, the rule of law, pluralism of opinions and the protection of fundamental human rights",[56] with Josef Nerušil as its first Chairman.[57]

On 14 September 2022, MEP Hynek Blaško left SPD due to disagreement with Okamura's leadership of the party.[58]

On 28 June 2024, Freedom and Direct Democracy announced it would leave the Identity and Democracy group to form a new, Alternative for Germany-led group called "Europe of Sovereign Nations", citing disagreements with ANO 2011 on the European Green Deal, immigration, censorship and Ukraine.[59][60]

Mladí Espéďáci

[edit]

The party's youth wing, Mladí Espéďáci (English: Young SPD members; MES) was established in April 2021 via Facebook,[61][62] with Martin Malášek as the first leader.[62] Diana Chodžajanová, a former contestant in Česko hledá SuperStar, became one of the faces of MES, appearing in short clips to promote the organisation.[63] In July 2022 the MES page was removed from Facebook.[64]

Cultural impact

[edit]

A 2017 song by SPD supporters Jan Žižka and Olivie Žižková called Já volím SPD (I'm voting SPD) went viral in the Czech Republic and became the target of ridicule.[65][66] This led to Žižková being jokingly voted into the top 30 female singers at the 2017 Český slavík awards.[67]

Policies and ideology

[edit]
Part of a series on
Neo-fascism
Principles
Variants
Origins
Movements and organizations
History

On its website and policy brief, SPD refers to itself as "a patriotic and democratic movement" with a focus on political reform, law and order, direct democracy, entrepreneurship and national sovereignty. It also claims to seek support from ordinary working citizens, small business owners and middle class professionals. The party also wants to reduce state-surveillance, reform the Czech tax system, support internet freedom and encourage more citizen led participation in national politics.[68] Political commentators have variously described the party as right-wing populist, nationalist and anti-immigration in its platform and rhetoric.[15][16] SPD has described itself as a national conservative party.[69] In April 2023, a court ruled that a description of the party as "fascist" by the magazine Respekt was "in accordance with the requirement of proportionality", and the magazine did not thus need to apologise for using this description.[70][71] SPD has been described as neo-fascist by news outlets including Balkan Insight, bne Intellinews, Le Monde diplomatique, and European Interest.[41][72][40][42]

The party is opposed to Czech membership of the European Union and calls for the Czech Republic to leave the bloc. The party also wants to pursue a more restrictive immigration policy, particularly towards immigration from Islamic nations, and rejects multiculturalism. It is strongly opposed to illegal immigration and the EU's policy of migrant quotas. The party itself claims that it does not seek to promote hatred towards any race or culture, but argues for the protection of "Judeo-Christian" values[73] and believes that migrant quotas will lead to the "Islamization" of Europe.[74][75][76][77] SPD takes a pro-Israel stance on the Gaza war, with Okamura stating that he supports Israel on all major issues.[78] Okamura has called for ending Czech military aid to Ukraine in the Russo-Ukrainian War and advocated peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.[79]

The party strongly opposes same-sex couples having the right to hold civil weddings.[80]

The party has been criticised for posting "misleading and manipulative content on social media", with the Ministry of Interior stating in July 2020 that SPD is the leading publisher of content featuring racial, ethnic and religious hatred.[81]

Membership

[edit]

Tomio Okamura often claims that SPD has a membership of thousands of members. In October 2017 he claimed that SPD has 7,000 members,[82] and in November 2017 12,000 members.[citation needed] Doubt has been cast on these figures, with the suggestion that Okamura often conflates numbers of supporters with actual members. It was reported in 2015 that SPD had only 20 members, compared to Okamura's claims of 10,000.[citation needed] In February 2018 the party stated that it had 1,200 members.[83] The party had 1,400 members in July 2018.[84]

Election results

[edit]
SPD support at the 2017 election

Chamber of Deputies

[edit]
Election Leader Votes % Seats +/– Position Status
2017 Tomio Okamura 538,574 10.64
22 / 200
 Increase 14 Increase 4th Opposition
2021 513,910 9.56
20 / 200
 Decrease 2 Steady 4th Opposition

Senate

[edit]
Election First round Second round Seats +/–
Votes % Place Votes % Place
2016 5,988 0.68 20th  
0 / 27
 Steady
2018 70,110 6.44 7th  
0 / 27
 Steady
2020 61,352 6.15 7th  
0 / 27
 Steady
2022 85,855 7.72 4th 2,791 0.58 15th
0 / 27
 Steady
2024 42,733 5.39 6th 3,318 0.85 11th
0 / 27
 Steady

Presidency

[edit]
Election Candidate First round Second round
Votes % Result Votes % Result
2018 Supported Miloš Zeman 1,985,547 38.56 First place 2,853,390 51.37 Won
2023 Jaroslav Bašta 248,375 4.45 Fifth place  

European Parliament

[edit]
Election List leader Votes % Seats +/− EP Group
2019 Ivan David 216,718 9.14 (#5)
2 / 21
 New ID
2024[a] Petr Mach 170,172 5.73 (#7)
1 / 21
 Decrease 1 ESN
  1. ^ Run in a joint list with Tricolour.

Regional councils

[edit]
Election Vote % Seats +/– Position
2016[a] 153,099 5.7
18 / 675
 Increase 18 Increase 6th
2020 169,978 6.1
35 / 675
 Increase 17 Increase 5th
  1. ^ Participated in coalition with Party of Civic Rights

Local

[edit]
Election % Councillors
2018
155 / 61,892

Prague City Assembly

[edit]
Election Leader Votes % Seats +/– Position Status
2018 Hynek Beran 895,859 3.54
0 / 65
 Steady Increase 6th Opposition
2022 Milan Urban 1 218, 622 5.17
3 / 65
 Increase 3 Steady 6th Opposition

References

[edit]
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Further reading

[edit]
  • Hloušek, Vít; Kopeček, Lubomír; Vodová, Petra (2020). The Rise of Entrepreneurial Parties in European Politics. Springer Nature. ISBN 978-3-030-41916-5.
[edit]
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