Karel Schwarzenberg to lead new party TOP 09

A new political party has emerged on the scene. The conservative TOP 09 party was unveiled in Prague on Thursday by one of its founders, the former Christian Democrat and finance minister, Miroslav Kalousek, and the party’s designated leader, Senator and former foreign minister Karel Schwarzenberg. In the early general elections scheduled for October, the new group will seek to offer an alternative to those dissatisfied with the state of Czech politics. Radio Prague talked to Karel Schwarzenberg, and asked him why he had agreed to lead the new party.

Miroslav Kalousek, Karel Schwarzenberg (right), photo: CTK

“The results of the last elections – the worst were the election to the European Parliament, but even the national elections – show that the degree of support for political parties by Czech citizens is going steadily down. People are evidently not content with the parties that are offered to them, and they are more and more fed up. I read this in the e-mails I get and letters, and hear it in pubs and wherever. And as we think that there is still a lot of work to be done in our country, we decided to offer at least some alternative. That’s it.”

You speak of an alternative, yet both yourself and Mr Kalousek have been part of Czech politics for some time. How do you want to convince people that this time, it’s for real?

“Well, that will be a lot of work. I agree, it will be tough and hard work. Right now, you know, I have great political capital. We will either gain something from it, or I will lose it. That’s of course always possible. But this is the situation in our country, and you have to take a risk, which is what we are doing.”

Miroslav Kalousek, photo: CTK

You aim to be a conservative force but the right part of the Czech political scene has been dominated by the Civic Democrats. How will you differ from them?

“First of all, that’s for a longer debate. You see, I don’t consider the Civic Democrats a conservative party because elementary parts of conservative thinking, as they are understood in Europe, do not exist in that party. Second, it’s very funny we in this country still discuss right and left wings. I do think that in the 21st century, the division lines are slightly different. I call myself conservative because I am always in favour of careful ways and of not dropping something that seems to work just for the sake of establishing something new. But I wouldn’t call myself a right-winger.”

At the unveiling on Thursday, you said that launching a new party was a great risk but that you were ready to invest your political capital in it. What result in the early elections would mean that you did not invest your capital in vain?

“First of all, we have to get into Parliament. We hope to gain around ten rather than around five percent. Each percentage point on top of that would be wonderful but one should be modest.”