Civic Democratic Party
The Civic Democratic Party is a conservative political party in the Czech Republic. The party sits on the centre-right of the political spectrum. It holds 26 seats in the Chamber of Deputies, and is the second strongest party by number of seats following the 2025 election. ODS is the only political party in the Czech Republic that has maintained an uninterrupted representation in the Chamber of Deputies since the country's independence. The party is currently led by MP Martin Kupka, who has been leader since 2026.
Founded in 1991 by Václav Klaus as the pro–free market wing of the Civic Forum, and modeled on the British Conservative Party, ODS won the 1992 parliamentary election, and has remained in government for most of the Czech Republic's independence. In every parliamentary election excluding the 2013 election, ODS emerged as one of the two strongest parties. Klaus served as the first prime minister of the Czech Republic after the partition of Czechoslovakia, from 1993 to 1997. Mirek Topolánek, who succeeded him as leader in December 2002, served as prime minister from 2006 to 2009. In the 2010 election, the party lost 28 seats, finishing second, but was able to form a centre-right government with Petr Nečas as prime minister. In the 2013 parliamentary election, the party suffered a heavy defeat after a corruption scandal, and was reduced to 16 seats in the Chamber of Deputies. ODS then remained in opposition until 2021. The party's seat share recovered in the 2017 election, in which they secured 25 seats and became the second largest party. After the 2021 election ODS returned to government as part of the Spolu alliance with TOP 09 and KDU-ČSL.
ODS is a member of the International Democracy Union, and co-founded the soft Eurosceptic European Conservatives and Reformists Party and the European Conservatives and Reformists group in the European Parliament, along with the UK Conservative Party.
History
Formation
ODS was founded in 1991 as one of two successors to the Civic Forum, a big tent movement that consisted of two major wings. The strongest of the two wings was the Interparliamentary Club of the Democratic Right, which was transformed into the Civic Democratic Party when Civic Forum split. ODS comprised followers of Václav Klaus, and had a more pro–free market orientation than the centrist Civic Movement. An agreement was reached to split the party at the Civic Forum Assembly on 23 February 1991. This was followed on 21 April by the formal declaration of a new party, with Klaus elected as its first leader. The party agreed to continue in a coalition government with the Civic Movement, but this collapsed in July 1991.The Civic Democrats, who called for a closer Czechoslovak federation, began to organize in Slovakia. Ahead of the 1992 election, ODS ruled out an electoral alliance with the Liberal Democrats, but agreed to an alliance with Václav Benda's Christian Democratic Party to boost its appeal to conservatives. ODS won the election, winning 66 seats, and formed a centre-right coalition with the Civic Democratic Alliance and KDU-ČSL, with Klaus as prime minister.
Dominant party (1992–1998)
In December 1997, allegations that ODS was receiving illegal donations and maintaining a secret slush fund caused ODA and KDU-ČSL to withdraw from the coalition, and the government collapsed. Josef Tošovský was appointed caretaker, pending new elections in June 1998. Despite the scandal, Klaus was re-elected party leader. In January 1998, some legislators opposed to Klaus, led by Jan Ruml and Ivan Pilip, left the party in the so-called 'Sarajevo Assassination', forming the Freedom Union.First Opposition
At the elections, ODS dropped again to 63 seats, while the Freedom Union won 19. Due to the split, US refused to support ODS, preventing them from getting a majority; the US leadership also refused to support the Czech Social Democratic Party. As a result, on 9 July 1998, ODS and ČSSD signed the Opposition Agreement, in which ODS pledged to provide confidence and maintain a ČSSD government under Miloš Zeman. This agreement was then superseded by the more explicit 'Patent of Tolerance' in January 2000.Return to government (2006–2013)
In the 2006 parliamentary election, ODS again became the largest party in the Chamber of Deputies with 81 seats. ODS initially attempted to make a deal with ČSSD, but talks with the Social Democrat leader Jiří Paroubek were unsuccessful. Mirek Topolánek then presented his first minority cabinet, consisting of Civic Democrats and independents. It was appointed on 4 September 2006 but lost a vote of confidence in the Chamber of Deputies on 3 October 2006.ODS then formed a second government in coalition with KDU-ČSL and the Green Party. One of the plans of this cabinet was a reform of public finances. Topolánek also raised the possibility of placing United States missile defences in the Czech Republic, which met with public resistance.
The party suffered heavy losses in regional and Senate elections in 2008, losing all 12 regional governorships it had previously held. However, a year later, ODS won the European Parliament election, keeping all 9 seats and increasing its vote-share from previous elections.
ODS led the government during the Czech Presidency of the Council of the European Union in 2009, dealing with issues such as a gas crisis in Ukraine, conflict in Gaza, and the ongoing economic crisis. There were some controversies during this period, such as Entropa, but other aspects of the Czech presidency, such as the resolution of the gas crisis, were positively evaluated by experts.
ODS nominated Přemysl Sobotka for president of the Czech Republic in the 2013 presidential election, after he won the party's presidential primary in 2012. Sobotka received 2.46% of the vote and did not qualify for the second round. Sobotka's poor result was seen as a reflection of the government's unpopularity and Sobotka's lack of support from within the party. ODS endorsed Karel Schwarzenberg of TOP 09 in the second round, who eventually lost out to Miloš Zeman.
Second Opposition (2013–2017)
After the resignation of the cabinet of Petr Nečas, ODS nominated Miroslava Němcová for the role of prime minister, arguing that she would be able to form a coalition and survive a vote of confidence in the Chamber of Deputies. However, President Zeman refused to appoint her, and instead appointed a technocratic cabinet led by Jiří Rusnok. The opposition subsequently called for a dissolution of parliament and early elections, a step which had only recently been made possible by a constitutional amendment. The motion of dissolution passed with 147 out of 200 votes, supported by all parties except ODS, whose deputies left the chamber, including their former coalition partners Public Affairs and TOP 09. President Zeman then called early elections for 25–26 October 2013. ODS suffered heavy losses, finishing 5th with 16 seats. The party also suffered poor results in the European parliament elections and Senate and municipal elections in 2014.In December 2015, opinion polls showed ODS with 8.6% support nationwide. Some polling agencies and political commentators expressed the opinion that ODS was on the path to become the main centre-right party again.
On 16 January 2016, Fiala was re-elected as ODS leader. At the 2016 regional and Senate elections, ODS received about 10% of votes and its candidates won seats in all regions. Six candidates nominated by ODS qualified for the second round of the Senate elections, where four of them were eventually elected. Fiala said that ODS had returned to being the major Czech right-wing party.
Opposition and cooperation with TOP 09 and KDU-ČSL (2017–2021)
ODS agreed to participate in the 2017 parliamentary election together with the Freeholder Party, under the label of ODS with the support of Freeholders. This agreement meant that the Freeholders would take 40 places on ODS candidate lists. In February 2017, ODS started a campaign called "We are creating a program", in which ODS leaders toured the Czech regions discussing priorities with supporters and potential voters. On 19 April 2017, ODS introduced its tax program, with plans to lower taxes in order to increase the income of Czech citizens. ODS also called for lower spending on social benefits and subsidies. Chief Whip Zbyněk Stanjura argued that many people were taking advantage of social benefits even though they did not deserve them. These plans resembled ODS policies set out in their 2006 parliamentary election manifesto. The tours concluded with the "Strong program for a strong Czech Republic" conference on 22 April, where ODS presented their election manifesto and candidates.Following the 2017 Czech government crisis, ODS rose in the polls, approaching ČSSD. A poll by TNS Kantar suggested that ODS would become the second strongest party, surpassing ČSSD and KSČM. ODS launched its 2017 election campaign on 29 May, inspired by the British Conservative Party's campaign for the 2017 general election.
ODS received 11% in the 2017 parliamentary election, becoming the second largest political party in the Czech parliament. The party then won the 2018 Senate election, confirming its position as the main Czech right-wing party.
ODS, KDU-ČSL and TOP 09 formed an alliance of conservative opposition parties in late 2020, known as the "Three Coalition", before launching their slogan and program on 9 December 2020, announcing that they would run under the name Spolu in the 2021 parliamentary election. The alliance announced that Petr Fiala would be their candidate for prime minister.
Spolu ran in the 2021 parliamentary election with Fiala as leader. Opinion polls suggested that ANO 2011 would win the election, but in an electoral upset, Spolu won the highest number of votes, and opposition parties took a majority of seats in parliament. The opposition parties signed a memorandum agreeing to nominate Fiala as the new prime minister.