Republican Party (WFAC)

Republican Party (Czech and Slovak: Republikánská strana, RS), is a conservative and agrarian political party in Czechoslovakia. Founded as a centre-right party representing big business and agriculture, today it espouses a social conservative and economically liberal pro-free market ideology. It is the major party of the centre-right in Czechoslovakia, and one of the two largest Czechoslovak political parties along with the Czechoslovak Social Democratic Party (ČSSD).

The party is seen as representing big business, the middle class and agriculture. The party generally supports semi-privatization through state-funded private services and tougher law and order measures. Known for its emphasis on consensus politics and political compromise, achieving and maintaining centre-right co-operation as an alternative to centre-left rule has always been one of RS's main aims. In the post-war era it formed the core of all centre-right governments, having led seven governments.

The leader of the RS, Miroslav Kalousek, was Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia from 2007 to 2013 and is the current leader of the opposition. The party is a member of the (EPP) and the.

1899–1918: Formation
The party was founded on 6 January 1899 under the name Česká strana agrární (Czech Agrarian Party). Among the founding figures were and  (the first chairman of the former Czech farmers' federation as a precursor of the agrarian party). Six years later, on 10 May 1905, the party merged with the Moravian agrarian movement and adopted the name Českoslovanská strana agrární (Czechoslavonic Agrarian Party). In 1906 the first issue of Venkov, the party newspaper, was issued.

The agrarians did not initially give too much weight to a specific political program. They stressed that they were not about breaking the unity of the national movement but about rigorously defending specific peasant interests. Their program could be summarized into four basic requirements: the creation of a federation of farmers for the whole Czech Kingdom, the control of agricultural cartels, the protection of Austrian agriculture in view of the new trade agreement with Uhrami, and the recognition of Czech state law. The Czech Agrarian Party Program was given a solid shape in 1903 by Josef Prokop Pražák and a circle of his associates, especially the economics theorists Cyril Horáček and František Fiedler. The Agrarians put an emphasis on national traditions by linking themselves to Czech history in the concept of late national revival. The most feasible way to defend national rights was the weakening of centralism, the improvement of self-government and the extension of the scope of Bohemia and Moravia. They were convinced that the basis of the nation is not political parties, but states. Pragmatism prevailed in the practical policy of the party, as they flexibly adapted to current political and economic interests. The attraction of agrarian ideology consisted of placing emphasis on land and exaggerating the importance of agriculture; it was also the belief in the community of all citizens living in the countryside and the ideological approval of the agricultural defense policy. Agrarians focused on the basic needs of the rural population, which they presented in a meaningful and comprehensible manner.

On 21 October 1909 became the chairman of the party, replacing. Before the outbreak of World War I, the Agrarian Party had grown to become the second strongest party in the Czech lands, only second to the Czechoslavonic Social Democratic Workers' Party. By 1914, the party had a total of 125 district organizations, 2467 local organizations and 91,194 members in the Czech lands. Besides having a strong organizational structure it also had many satellite organizations: in 1907, the party formed the Union of Republican Youth (Jednota republikánského dorostu), and one year later, the Association of Agrarian Academics was formed. In 1911 the Agrarian Bank, in which the party had a dominant influence, was founded. It also formed the Republican Trade Union Centre (Republikánské odborové ústředí), and the party had also a strong influence within various economic agrarian companies.

1918–1938: First Republic
The establishment of the new Czechoslovak state on 28 October 1918 was closely connected with the Czech agrarian politicians, mostly Antonín Švehla, who was the leading personality of the anti-Austrian uprising in Prague.

The Czech Agrarian Party was in 1919 renamed to the Republican Party of Czechoslovak Countryside (Republikánská strana československého venkova). In 1922 a large part of the Slovak National and Peasant Party (Slovenská národná a rolnická strana) merged with the party, which consequently changed its name again and became the Republican Party of Farmers and Peasants (Republikánská strana zemědělského a malorolnického lidu). However, in usual political life it was called the “Agrarians” (“agrárníci”).

The Republican Party had some of the strongest political figures of the interwar era. In the 1920s Antonín Švehla (party chairman 1909–1933 and prime minister 1922–1926, 1926–1929) was the leading personality of the right wing of the Czechoslovak political spectrum. Other important figures of the party was (prime minister 1929–1932),  (prime minister 1932–1935),  (party chairman 1935–1938) and Slovak  (prime minister 1935–1938), who guaranteed the unity of the party in Czecho-Slovak context.

In 1920 Švehla established the Pětka (Committee of Five), an unofficial, informal and extra-parliamentary semi-constitutional political forum designed as a means to stave off a potential political crisis. The committee comprised of the leaders of the five leading political parties and included Švehla himself, (National Democratic Party),  (Social Democratic Party),  (Czechoslovak National Socialist Party) and  (People's Party). The main force behind the Petka was Švehla who was to serve as Czechoslovakia’s prime minister between 1922–1926 and 1926–1929 and wield much influence over the government. Conceived on an ad hoc basis, this behind-the-scenes forum was instrumental in keeping under control the economic crisis that sparked hyperinflation across Europe between 1922-23. In 1924, the Petka directed the National Assembly to pass a National Insurance Law. This law created a social welfare system, which is described as being one of the most progressive in the world at that time. The eight-hour workday, sickness, and unemployment relief as well as restrictions on female and child labor constituted some of the reforms that the Pětka supposedly engineered.

In the 1925 elections it won 45 of the 300 seats in the Chamber of Deputies, becoming the largest party in Parliament. In the same year it introduced an agrarian tariff which was seen as protecting the producers interest, motivated by the country's agrarian crisis. It is argued that it helped the Hungarians more than it did the Slovaks. Prime Minister Udržal was a member of the party, but he lost its support, which meant that he failed to hold his coalition together. Internal struggles within the party grew and the coalition government failed in July 1932. It was consistently the strongest party, forming and dominating coalitions. It moved beyond its original agrarian base to reach middle-class voters.

After Švehla´s death in 1933 Rudolf Beran was elected as a new chairman. Under his leadership the authoritarian streams within the party became stronger.

It was active also on the international level. In 1921 it was the main actor at the creation of the, which existed to 1938. All important European agrarian parties were members of this bureau, however, as a consequence of national agrarian protectionism the cooperation was limited.

Party platform
The Republican Party is categorised as centre-right on the political spectrum. It is a liberal and social conservative party with an agrarian tradition which is committed to fiscal free market policies, including tax cuts and less government involvement in the economy. It does, however, upheld a social market economy and supports the continued existence of the Czechoslovak welfare state.

On economic issues it is liberal conservative, with a focus on lowering taxes, fiscal responsibility in the public finances, reducing bureaucracy and improving conditions for business. In terms of foreign policy, the Republican Party commits itself to European integration, and having strong transatlantic links, especially with the United States.

On social issues the party is social conservative, positioning themselves as a family-friendly party which supports an addressable social system and opposes legalising homosexual partnerships. They support increased benefits for families with children, as well as single parents. On life issues, the party opposes euthanasia, and abortion, though it supports abortion in cases of rape or when the mother's life is at risk.

The Republican Party supports stronger punishment of crimes, battle against corruption and supports involvement on the part of the Czechoslovak Armed Forces in cases of domestic anti-terrorism offensives. In terms of immigrants, the RS supports initiatives to integrate immigrants through language courses, and aims to further control immigration. Dual citizenship should only be allowed in exceptional cases.

The party appeals strongly to the middle class and to entrepreneurs, and enjoys considerable support in some of the larger cities such as Prague, Brno, Bratislava and Košice, and among younger voters. It also enjoys support by farmers in the countryside.

Opponents of the RS are the Czechoslovak Social Democratic Party (ČSSD) and the Communist Party (KSČ). The RS has, however, governed in two federal-level and numerous state-level Grand Coalitions with the ČSSD. The Republican Party rejects coalitions with either far-left or far-right parties.

The Czechoslovak People's Party and the Slovak People's Party (ČSL/SĽS), two christian democratic parties, and the Liberal Democratic Party (LDS), a classical liberal party, are the preferred partner of any RS government since the RS and the ČSL/SĽS have similar attitudes toward social policy, while the RS and the LDS have similar attitudes toward fiscal policy and European integration.

Presidential
Indirect Elections

Direct Election