Spolu (WFAC)

Together Spolu
Abbreviation	SPOLU
Leader	Markéta Adamová
Founded	27 October 2020
Ideology	Conservatism Christian democracy Liberal conservatism
Political position	Centre-right
Colours	Blue
Slogan	Pojďte s námi Poďte s nami
Coalition Partners	RS ČSL SĽS LDS
Chamber of Deputies	0 / 300
Senate	0 / 150
European Parliament	0 / 26

Together (Czech and Slovak: Spolu, stylized as SPOLU) is a Czechoslovak centre-right political alliance formed for the upcoming 2021 federal election, consisting of the Republican Party (RS), the ČSL, the SĽS, and the Liberal Democratic Party (LDS).

Composition

SPOLU consists of the four centre-right parties in the Federal Assembly (Czechoslovakia's parliament). The members are:

Name			Ideology	Position	Leader/Leaders	MPs	Senators	MEPs
		Republican Party	Conservatism	Centre-right to right-wing	Markéta Adamová	65 / 300	33 / 150	8 / 26
		Czechoslovak People's Party	Christian democracy	Centre to centre-right	Marian Jurečka	16 / 300	8 / 150	2 / 26
		Slovak People's Party	Christian democracy	Centre to centre-right	Milan Majerský	10 / 300	13 / 150	2 / 26
		Liberal Democratic Party	Liberal conservatism	Centre-right to right-wing	Petr Fiala	16 / 300	7 / 150	3 / 26

History

Markéta Adamová, Marian Jurečka, Milan Majerský, and Petr Fiala announcing the formation of the electoral alliance Spolu, 27 October 2020.

Following the 2020 regional and local elections, the Republican Party, ČSL, SĽS, and Liberal Democratic Party began negotiations about a potential conservative electoral alliance for the 2021 federal election. LDS, with Markéta Adamová as leader.

The RS leadership agreed to form an alliance on 25 October 2020, with a memorandum to be signed two days later. On 27 October 2020, Adamová, Marian Jurečka, Milan Majerský, and Petr Fiala announced that RS, ČSL/SĽS, and LDS would form an electoral alliance for the next legislative election, with RS leader Adamová as the alliance's candidate for Prime Minister. On 11 November 2020, the parties agreed that RS would nominate the leaders of the election lists in nine regions (nine in Czechia and five in Slovakia), ČSL in three regions, SĽS in three regions, and LDS in three regions (two in Czechia and one in Slovakia). The name of the alliance was announced as "Together" (Czech and Slovak: Spolu). Together introduced its electoral program and campaign on 9 December 2020. Adamová was confirmed as the alliance's candidate for Prime Minister on 16 December 2020.

The old logo of SPOLU.

Campaigns

2021 federal election

Main article: 2021 Czechoslovak federal election

SPOLU launched its campaign on 19 May 2021 in Brno. The campaign's slogan is "We will bring the Czechoslovakia together". SPOLU promised to reform tax, the social and pension system, and healthcare. Its proposals included a minimum pension, a simplification of social benefits, support for education, and better use of European Union funds, as well as a focus on climate change. It opposes "Czexit" and supports membership of NATO. SPOLU and RS leader Markéta Adamová described the alliance as a centre-right liberal conservative political force that has traditions at its heart but with a modern view of the world. SPOLU would, according to Adamová, create a functional and more comprehensible state instead of the helplessness and false politics of the Fico government. SPOLU planned to use Dominik Feri as the face of an Instagram campaign targeting young voters entitled "I have a voice". However, in May 2021 Feri resigned from his political posts after being accused of sexual assault and rape by eight women, and the campaign was withdrawn.

From January to early June, most polls put the SPOLU opposition coalition several percentage points ahead of ČSSD. However, ČSSD's popularity surged during the summer, which was credited to a combination of Czechoslovakia getting over the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the ČSSD's more masterful handling of pre-election campaigning. Fico successfully managed to bring different topics into the election game, especially playing the migration card against SPOLU, which he claimed was "too friendly" towards immigration. Fico's campaign has been described as more direct, less nuanced and to some extent even stereotypical, which resonated well with his electorate. The opposition has had trouble matching this style.

Regional leaders in the 2021 election

Region	Leader			2021 result
	Name		Party	Votes	Seats
Prague		Markéta Adamová	RS	33.6%	0 / 24
Central Bohemian		Jan Skopeček	RS	22.3%	0 / 28
České Budějovice		Jan Bauer	RS	0.00%	0 / 13
Plzeň		Martin Baxa	RS	0.00%	0 / 11
Karlovy Vary		Jan Bureš	RS	0.00%	0 / 5
Ústí nad Labem		Karel Krejza	RS	0.00%	0 / 13
Liberec		Petr Beitl	RS	0.00%	0 / 8
Hradec Králové		Ivan Adamec	RS	0.00%	0 / 11
Pardubice		Jaroslav Zedník	LDS	0.00%	0 / 15
Jihlava		Vít Kaňkovský	ČSL	0.00%	0 / 12
Brno		Petr Fiala	LDS	0.00%	0 / 20
Olomouc		Marian Jurečka	ČSL	0.00%	0 / 12
Zlín		Ondřej Benešík	ČSL	0.00%	0 / 12
Silesian		Zbyněk Stanjura	RS	0.00%	0 / 22
Bratislava		Richard Sulík	LDS	0.00%	0 / 16
Trnava		Igor Matovič	RS	0.00%	0 / 10
Trenčín		Martin Fedor	SĽS	0.00%	0 / 10
Nitra		Pavol Abrhan	SĽS	0.00%	0 / 12
Žilina		Igor Hus	RS	0.00%	0 / 7
Tatra		Monika Kavecká	RS	0.00%	0 / 5
Banská Bystrica		Ľudovít Kaník	RS	0.00%	0 / 12
Prešov		Milan Majerský	SĽS	0.00%	0 / 10
Košice		Mária Šofranko	RS	0.00%	0 / 12

Election results

Chamber of Deputies

Election	Leader	Votes			Seats		Place	Position
		Vote	%	±	#	±
2021	Markéta Adamová				0 / 300		TBD	TBD

Senate

Election	Leader	Votes			Seats		Place	Position
		Vote	%	±	#	±
2021	Markéta Adamová				0 / 300		TBD	TBD

See also

• Political parties in Czechoslovakia