Acting party chair Bohuslav Sobotka elected Social Democrat leader

Nine months after winning the general elections yet failing to form a government, the opposition Social Democrats elected new leadership at a party congress in Brno over the weekend. In a tight vote for the new leader, acting chair Bohuslav Sobotka beat his main rival, South Moravian governor Michal Hašek, who was elected deputy chair. Social Democrats hope the new leadership will boost the party’s support.

Bohuslav Sobotka, photo: CTK

It took some 600 party delegates two rounds of voting to elect a new leader at the Social Democrat congress in Brno on Friday. The acting party chair, Bohuslav Sobotka, put promises of a more consistent opposition to the current government at the top of his campaign. His main rival for the post, the governor of the South Moravian region, Michal Hašek, was generally seen as more open to cooperation with some of the coalition parties.

In the first round, Bohuslav Sobotka fell short of being elected by just one vote but a couple of hours later emerged victorious from the second round, defeating Michal Hašek by 19 votes. After his election, Mr Sobotka outlined his priorities at the party’s helm in the coming months.

“The first task ahead is strengthening of the Social Democratic party. We are not happy about the fact that despite the government’s extremely unjust and unacceptable policies, support for the Social Democrats is not strong enough to allow us gain sufficient support in any elections to come.”

One of the major issues most discussed at the congress was the necessity to widen the party’s appeal to groups of voters outside its core of traditional supporters. Bohuslav Sobotka said the year 2011, with no major election in sight, is a good opportunity to do that.

Michal Hašek, photo: CTK

“I have promised to focus primarily on party issues. There is no major election coming up this year, so I would like to work inside the party to change it and open it up so that it is able to appeal to a much broader parts of the public than it is now.”

Michal Hašek was later elected the first deputy chairman; the congress also picked five regular deputy party chairs: Jiří Dienstbier jr., Lubomír Zaorálek, Marie Benešová, Zdeněk Škromach and Martin Starec. This was very good news for chairman Bohuslav Sobotka, as most of them are considered his supporters. One of the Social Democrats who ran for a deputy party chairman was MP Jan Hamáček. He says he doesn’t expect much will change under the new leader.

“I don’t think much will change. Bohuslav Sobotka has been the party leader following the resignation of Jiří Paroubek, and I think he was quite successful. He was a leader under whom the party won local and Senate elections, and I just hope we will carry on in the same vein.”

Social Democrats hope that the election of Mr Sobotka’s main rival, Michal Hašek, to the second most important position in the party will help bridge the differences between its two camps. One of the delegates who wanted to see Mr Hašek at the helm was Aleš Drobek from the northern town of Bohumín.

Photo: CTK

“I would be a little disappointed if Mr Sobotka steers the party to the left but I’m not worried too much. I don’t think he will take it too far to the left. It won’t be the radical left, so I’m not really worried too much.”

The congress in Brno was attended by many guests, including the US ambassador to the Czech Republic Norman Eisen. He says he was there to learn about the party’s programme, and to discuss several issues with Social Democrats policy makers.

“We always talk about anti-corruption efforts as a priority, so I have been trading ideas about that. I also discussed the friendship between the Czech Republic and the United States, and the ways we can work together on strategic and defence issues. It was also very good to see my friends who are involved on just in national politics but on the regional level as well.”

Valtr Komárek, photo: CTK

Many delegates at the congress called for amending party statutes to prevent corruption within the party, a practice that has become a serious problem for several regional Social Democrat organizations. But the congress fell short of doing that; the only new regulation approved in Brno will bar Social Democrats from holding multiple positions within the party.

The economist Valtr Komárek, who played an important part in the reforms of 1968, and also served as an advisor to Che Guevara in Cuba, was elected the honorary chairman of the Social Democrat party.