Czech communists likely to increase votes in October poll

The Czech Republic is going to return to the polls in October, and after successive elections of diminishing support, the Communists seem poised to drastically increase their percentage of the vote, perhaps enough to even become the second-largest party in the lower house.

It is also the first time since the fall of the communist regime that the Communist party may have a chance of participating in government. Are the Czechs ready for the Communists to be back in power?

Uniquely among the communist parties in post-communist Europe, the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSCM) did not repudiate the events and repression of its regime, nor has it participated in government since the revolution.

This is in stark contrast to communist parties in neighboring Poland, Slovakia and Hungary, which all updated their party manifestos, changed their party name and subsequently participated in or led the government, often multiple times. This has led to most of the Czech political parties refusing to even negotiate with the Czech communists, resulting in the Czech communists being perpetually in opposition.

KSCM, however, in recent years has tried to temper its image, trying to move closer to the centre, and finding more common ground with the much larger left party, the Social Democrats (CSSD). This tactic has successfully seen the party join coalitions with CSSD to govern 10 regions, which occurred after the regional elections of 2012.

This is also despite the fact that CSSD still officially opposes cooperating with the Communists, thanks to the Bohumin resolution, which bans governmental cooperation with KSCM. Several protests have been held against the regional coalitions, and, one can assume, more will follow should the two parties form a national government.

The prospects for KSCM to join government mainly hinge on CSSD. The most likely scenario, should CSSD choose not to join with another political party, would be a minority government with Communist backing. This idea was already aired in 2006, but dramatically fell apart and led to the centre-right parties forming government. The other option, a fully-fledged coalition, would require CSSD to overturn the Bohumin resolution, which could prove politically unpopular.

Will the Communists return to Strakova Academy, the seat of the government of the Czech Republic? That remains to be seen, and the only sure answer to that question will come after the October elections. But Czech politics never ceases to surprise, so anything is possible, and there is certainly a chance that the next government will include the Czech Communists. The harder question to answer is whether the Czechs are really ready for it.