Just a year after the death of former Czech president Václav Havel, who fought against the Cold War Communist regime, the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSČM) is gaining real political power for the first time since 1989. KSČM, shunned by political parties since the 1989 Velvet Revolution, ranked second in the October regional elections, coming into power thanks to a public fed up with the government’s austerity measures. The party co-rules 10 of 13 regions with the Social Democrats. Polls show that it could form a majority with the Social Democrats if Parliament elections were held today.
“Much of our work was done by the government,” Jiří Dolejš, KSČM’s shadow finance minister, told Bloomberg. “People are unhappy and don’t trust politicians.” The only Communist party in the region not to rename itself, it wants to boost taxes and welfare spending, regulate the financial sector, and break ties with NATO.
