The KSCM is one of the few largely unreconstructed Communist parties on the political scene in the post-communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe. In other countries the word "communist" has usually been replaced by terms such as "democratic left", but the KSCM continues to take pride in its Communist history. The party in its current form was not founded until March 1990, but it is effectively the heir to the KSC (Communist Party of Czechoslovakia), in power from 1948-1989. Several groups splintered from the party in the early 1990s and founded their own parties - such as Left Block and later the Party of Czechoslovak Communists, but while they have faded into obscurity the KSCM has sustained its firm position in parliament consistently winning over ten percent of the vote.
Miroslav Grebenicek
Vlastimil Balin
Jiri Dolejs
Vaclav Exner
Miloslav Ransdorf
Zuzka Rujbrova
Otakar Zmitko
Dana Hrabkova
24 seats (out of 200), 11.03% of the total vote (making the Communists the third strongest party in parliament)
The KSCM is a socialist party, believing in strong state control of the economy. The party's political programme calls for "an appropriate degree of state ownership in key sectors of the economy (banking, transport, telecommunications, energy, the extractive industries etc.)". The party is strongly opposed to Czech NATO membership and describes the NATO action against Yugoslavia in 1999 as "aggression". Recently some leading party members have expressed support for European Union membership, but the party remains divided on the issue. Most mainstream trade union leaders distance themselves from the party. Up to now all the other parties currently represented in parliament have ruled out any kind of coalition deal with the KSCM, unless the party undergoes major reforms.
mainly older people who have found it hard to adapt to the new conditions; the party also enjoys support in industrial areas with high unemployment. The party has a large base of grass roots members, far outnumbering the other main political parties.
Website: www.kscm.cz
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