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Czech Republic - Tradition Responsibility Prosperity 09 /
Tradice Odpovednost Prosperita 09 (TOP 09)

TOP 09 is right-of-center, fiscally conservative and pro-European. Former Czech Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek split from the Christian Democratic Party (KDU-CSL) shortly after the fall of PM Topolanek's government in March 2009, ostensibly because of its shift to the left. After the European Parliament elections in early June, Kalousek launched a new political party called TOP 09. Former Minister of Foreign Affairs Karel Schwarzenberg was the party's chairman and together with Kalousek provided the star power, which Kalousek hoped would help the party pass the five percent barrier needed to win seats in the parliamentary elections, originally planned for October 2009.

The initial response to TOP 09 was positive but the novelty of the party waned as it struggled to differentiate itself from ODS, its main rival (and natural coalition partner) on the right, and answer questions about its long-term viability. TOP 09 was expected to attract disaffected ODS voters and could also attract some support from KDU-CSL, the Greens and even the Social Democrats (CSSD). Its performance in the May 2010 elections of traditional thir place Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia.

Shortly after PM Mirek Topolanek's government lost a vote of confidence on 24 March 2009, then-Finance Minster Miroslav Kalousek announced that he would soon leave the Christian Democratic Party (KDU-CSL) because the party's platform had shifted to the left of center, and hinted he would start a new party. Specifically, Kalousek cited KDU-CSL's position on issues such as taxation and social benefits as the reason for his departure. Observers said that this was just a ruse. Many of the policies to which Kalousek objected were actually developed under his reign as party Chairman. Many thought the split was mostly due to the strong animosity between Kalousek and new KDU-CSL chair Cyril Svoboda.

Kalousek had been a member of KDU-CSL for 25 years and was its chairman from 2003 to 2006. KDU-CSL had its party congress at the end of May 2009 and elected Cyril Svoboda as its new chairman. Svoboda had been the KDU-CSL chairman from 2001 to 2003 and was viewed by many as supporting a possible coalition with CSSD. Kalousek attended the party congress but did not speak. On June 11, he held a press conference and TOP 09 was launched.

TOP 09 called itself a center-right, pro-business, pro-free market, and pro-Europe party that supports a strong trans-Atlantic relationship. TOP 09 vowed to fight corruption, and supports limited government, fair taxation, fiscal responsibility and a stronger emphasis on "Judeo-Christian values." Judeo-Christian values aside, much of what TOP 09 endorsed was not significantly different than ODS. Kalousek was widely viewed as ex-ODS PM Topolanek's favorite minister and Topolanek even lobbied for Kalousek to serve in the interim technocratic government, a move that was vetoed by CSSD.

Initially many observers suggested that Kalousek was forming TOP 09 as a stepping stone to merge part of KDU-CSL with ODS. Those that knew him, however, dismissed this, suggesting that Kalousek was not interested in joining ODS as he would rather be a big fish in a small pond than play third fiddle in a larger party. Nevertheless, TOP 09, as ODS's most natural coalition partner, could very well play the role of a stalking horse for ODS by preventing those center-right voters disillusioned with ODS from voting for more leftist parties or throwing away their votes on marginal parties unlikely to clear the 5 percent threshold. In any case, while ODS officials would welcome TOP 09 as a coalition partner after the elections, until the elections, they were treating TOP 09 as a serious rival.

At the press conference introducing and announcing TOP 09, Kalousek had Karel Schwarzenberg at his side. The press tagged them as the "brains" and the "face" of the party. Kalousek was renowned for his political savvy and deal-making abilities. However, he carried some baggage from corruption cases he was involved in when he headed the budget and acquisitions department at the Ministry of Defense from 1993 to 1998.

Schwarzenberg was not a day-to-day manager, but he was a widely respected and trusted figure and gives the party moral credibility. In a recent poll, Schwarzenberg was the second most popular politician in the Czech Republic. He was a direct descendant of Czech nobility and his family was forced into exile in 1948. He returned in 1989 and took up residence in a castle he obtained in restitution. Although he describes himself as both a forester and innkeeper, "Prince Karel" (as he was sometimes called) also has a financial interest in the highly-respected news weekly Respekt and was co-owner of Becherovka, the national liquor.

Despite his impeccable reputation, his 1997 acquisition of Becherovka, together with coal tycoon Zdenek Bakala, raised eyebrows at the time, as his was far from the highest bid. Although he was very popular, the parties with which he has been associated in the past have not always done well. He was the Minister of Foreign Affairs in PM Topolanek's government, having been nominated by the currently struggling Greens (although he was never formally a member of that party). Schwarzenberg won his current Senate seat with the now defunct Freedom Union party.

Schwarzenberg, age 71, suffered health problems that required open heart surgery in February 2008. His recuperation sidelined him for over two months. TOP 09's International Secretary said that Kalousek and Schwarzenberg know and trust each other well. Schwarzenberg was in charge of directing the campaign and Kalousek was responsible for developing the party's platform.

In his speech to the 2008 KDU-CSL Congress, Kalousek asked rhetorically "whether we are Western European style Christian Democrats or church-going socialists." In forming TOP 09, Kalousek said that KDU-CSL had become the latter. Although Kalousek ostensibly established the party as a response to KDU-CSL's shift to the left, pinning down what TOP 09 really stands for was difficult. In the Czech language, the acronym TOP stands for tradition, responsibility and prosperity. In the political realm it claims to be a conservative party that would take its "European and Trans-Atlantic relationships seriously." Kalousek has said it would not be a populist party and that it would only make realistic promises that are fiscally feasible. Many scoffed when Kalousek said his party would fight corruption (remembering how he was embroiled in corruption scandals) and seek to inject integrity into the government. Schwarzenberg was pro-U.S. and pro-Missile Defense and TOP 09's foreign policies were expected to reflect Schwarzenberg's beliefs.

By August 2009, dozens of other KDU-CSL party members and eight MPs have left KDU-CSL for TOP 09. Aside from Kalousek and Schwarzenberg, the other Minister from Topolanek's government to join was Vlasta Parkanova, the Minister of Defense under Topolanek's government. Other TOP 09 members included Pavol Luksa, a regional politician and mayor of a wealthy Northern Moravian town. Luksa was also a successful businessman and could be one of the financial backers of the party. Another businessman who has links to TOP 09 was Richard Hava, Chairman of Omnipol, a weapons trading company. Hava and Kalousek are close friends but Kalousek denied he would receive any financial backing from Hava.

Immediately after announcing TOP 09, a Factum Invenio poll run for the newspaper Pravo showed that 43.8 percent of respondents said that TOP 09 would be successful with voters. However, some weeks later, on June 26, CVVM (a leading polling agency) released the results of a poll showing that TOP 09 would only get 2 percent of the vote if parliamentary elections were held that day. A Factum poll released on July 30 showed that TOP 09 would have received 5 percent of the vote if the elections had been held in July. While this would get them across the minimum threshold to enter Parliament, it was not the kind of traction the party had hoped for, though it may be enough to get them into the nationally televised debates which would increase their exposure.

In a sign the party was attempting to broaden its appeal, TOP 09 and the political movement Mayors and Independents signed a long-term (through 2012) cooperation agreement on July 9. Mayors and Independents received 2.28 percent of the vote in the June 2009 European Parliament elections, its first election as a political movement. TOP 09 and Mayors and Independents would run a joint election campaign and would have the same electoral program. Some members of the Mayors and Independents movement would be on the TOP 09 list of candidates, but the Mayors and Independents would have priority at the local and regional level. If they win seats in the October elections, TOP 09 and the Mayors and Independents would form a joint parliamentary faction titled "Top 09 and Mayors." Priorities of the two entities include transparency in government, fighting corruption, stability of the public budget, and municipal autonomy. Schwarzenberg would be at the top of the Prague region's candidate list, while Petr Gazdik, chairman of the Mayors and Independents, would lead the South Moravia region. In addition, another new but small party, Obcane.cz, was losing five of its 25 members to TOP 09 - its student group was leaving to join TOP 09.

Financing would be a crucial issue for TOP 09's electoral success. Kalousek and Schwarzenberg have vowed not to take loans and said that all financing would come from donations. This has raised some eyebrows, given the extent of Kalousek's ties to certain business people. Kalousek said the party would publish the list of all donations. Many speculate that he would bury the names of certain donors, with whom TOP 09 would not want to be publicly associated. On July 25, TOP 09 announced that it had thus far received 15 million CZK (roughly US$850,000), about half of what it said it needs to run a successful campaign in the fall. One contributor, Dusan Novotny, a businessman who earned his wealth through a chain of pharmacies, contributed 11 of the 15 million CZK. A Slovenian banker, Stefan Loncnar, contributed 1 million CZK. None of these donors caused controversy.

The Czech Republic has seen numerous political parties come and quickly go since the Velvet Revolution 20 years ago. Czech politics are heavily driven by personalities, and TOP 09 was relying on the star power of its "face," former FM Schwarzenberg and its "brains," former Finance Minister Kalousek, to put it over the top. With significant name recognition and a good start toward strong financial baking, it made a significant impact on the 2010 elections.