Czech communists under threat

As you already know, there have been repeated attempts in past years to discredit the CPBM in order to exclude the party from the spectrum of democratic activity. Over the last six months especially there has been an expansion of the anti-communist campaign in the Czech Republic.

In this campaign, the public media have disseminated information that is unfair and have concealed all positive outcomes of our party work. The occasion of the 20th anniversary of the ‘Velvet Revolution’ of 1989 was also used to intensify the propaganda against the CPBM as well as to ‘rewrite’ our history.

This hate campaign has been taken up in the upper chamber of the Czech parliament (senate), which established a temporary committee to assess the constitutionality of the CPBM. On 30 October 2008, the Senate considered the final report of the committee and, despite the fact that – according to its own rules of procedure – the senate was inquorate, it approved the final report. Only 30 of the 81 senators voted in favour.

The committee, in its final report, stated among other things that it had “found numerous instances of violation of the Constitution of the Czech Republic by the CPBM”. The senate submitted this report to the government of the Czech Republic, requesting an assessment of the constitutionality of the CPBM be sought from the Supreme Administrative Court.

But the former right-wing government of Mirek Topolanek did not do this.

On 8 December 2009, therefore, the temporary committee turned to the caretaker government of Jan Fischer and again urged the government to put its report before the Supreme Administrative Court.

Right-wing leaders in the senate, as well as others, are trying in this way to distract attention away from their increasing problems, scandals and corruption, in order to try to eliminate the social tensions that have arisen in society as a result of the economic crisis. It is also a desperate response to the changing public mood, which is expressing a growing disenchantment with capitalism.

All this is of increasing concern to the Czech right wing, which is losing support. Their objective is therefore to intimidate and discourage members and supporters of the CPBM, as well as those who are its potential voters, in the weeks leading up to the elections to the Czech parliament to be held in May 2010.

One of the objectives of the extreme right is to achieve, if not a ban, at least a suspension of the CPBM to prevent it participating in the forthcoming, very important, elections.

A ban or suspension would exclude the CPBM from participating in democratic competition and parliamentary representation. This would partly help the Social Democrats, who are also seeking the votes of left-wing voters. However, some voters would simply not vote, and a significant number of eligible voters in the Czech Republic would be deprived of their right to decide.

Such behaviour on the part of certain political forces we consider to be a flagrant violation of democratic principles and a very dangerous precedent for other countries. It would be a return to those worst traditions of European history!

During the 20 years that have passed since the events of 1989, the CPBM has shown that it is democratic political party that defends and expresses the interests of a great part of the citizens of the Czech Republic.

The results it has obtained in parliamentary elections, in European elections, and also in regional and local authority elections, show that the CPBM is firmly embedded in society and in European structures. Despite ongoing attempts to discredit and isolate the CPBM it remains the third strongest political party in the Czech Republic.

We want to ask you, our dear comrades, to use all methods at your party’s disposal to express support for, and solidarity with, the CPBM. Never before in its modern history has our party been in greater need of your support as it is at the moment and in the near future.

We believe that resisting the banning of CPBM is not to fight for the existence of one communist party, but it is part of our joint efforts, part of our struggle for a better and fairer world and a real democracy!

We hope that you understand our situation and we count on your solidarity and support.

Prague, 5 January 2010

Vojtech Filip, Chairman of the Central Committee of the CPBM

Jiri Mastalka, Vice-Chairman of the Central Committee of the CPBM