Czech extremist parties are among the vanquished of the weekend elections to the Chamber of Deputies, clearly won by center-right parties, Lidove noviny (LN) writes Monday. The Workers' Party of Social Justice (DSSS) has wasted its popularity among a part of Czechs it won by its anti-Romany attacks in 2008. It only obtained 1.14 percent votes, LN writes. The ultra right almost tripled the number of the gained votes, but contrary to expectations, it will not receive a single crown as state contributions because it failed to reach the 1.5 percent threshold that would entitle it to the money, LN writes. This will postpone "professionalisation" of the party and the shortage of money for campaigns may threaten its chances in the autumn local elections, LN writes. DSSS' predecessor, the Workers' Party (DS), was outlawed over its racism last year. Analyst Miroslav Mares writes that DSSS's potential voters were won over by other protest parties, the Party of Citizens' Rights (SPOZ) of Milos Zeman (4.33 percent), the Sovereignty of Jana Bobosikova (3.67 percent) and, in particular, the Public Affairs (VV) with 10.9 percent. "There was a number of soft protest alternatives, which has deprived hard extremists of voters," Mares said. Nevertheless, DSSS leader Tomas Vandas said he did not intend to leave the post of party leader. He said the shortage of money had not much damaged the party. "We are used to manage the party from gifts and voluntary contributions," Vandas is quoted as saying. The DSSS won some 60,000 votes. Even a much worse result was scored by Miroslav Sladek, the head of the Republican party. It only received 1993 votes. Sladek's Republicans, who had an anti-Romany platform, were popular with some 5-10 percent of Czechs and the party was represented in the parliament in the early 1990s. As far as the extreme left is concerned, Lukas Kollarcik, head of the Stalinist Association of Young Communists of Czechoslovakia (Komsomol), was defeated in his candidature for the Chamber of Deputies, LN writes. Last year, Kollarcik won the party's primary elections in the Zlin region, but the party leadership subsequently only placed him in the third place of the regional list of candidates. On the other hand, Marta Semelova, notorious for her old Communist views, was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in the Prague constituency, LN writes.
Prague Monitor
