Are the Motorists on the road to government?
Although only founded in 2022, the Motorists political party is quickly establishing itself in Czech politics. Following success in the 2024 European elections, and a confident first party congress on December 7th, the Motorists are striving to present themselves as a valid contender for Czechs’ votes. Danny Bate spoke to political scientist Jiří Pehe about the appeal of the party, and his predictions for its future.
This is a relatively new party on the Czech political scene. Could you describe for us the origins of the Motorists party? Where did they come from, and who are the key figures in the party’s relatively short history?
“The party itself was founded or created by a close collaborator of former President Václav Klaus, who works in the Václav Klaus Institute, Petr Macinka. It was basically considered to be a more conservative, more nationalist version of the Civic Democratic Party that Mr. Klaus founded many years ago and then left.
“The party wasn't really visible very much on the Czech political scene, but then it joined forces with Filip Turek, a very charismatic politician, who has a huge following on social media. This co-operation with Mr. Turek catapulted the party into a very prominent position in current Czech politics.”
And in terms of their voter base, what groups of people in Czechia might they be hoping to attract?
“I think that the Motorists attract two or three groups of people. First, they attract dissatisfied voters of the Civic Democratic Party, those who think that the party is not conservative or nationalist enough. That’s one group of party followers – the original group, so to speak.
“Then, of course, they also attract a lot of young men in particular who believe that the policies of the European Union with regards to the Green Deal are extreme. They want the Green Deal either to end or to be rewritten. This is, as the name of the party suggests, a large part of their agenda.
“Finally, I think that, with the arrival of Mr. Turek, the party has become more nationalist, in the sense that it started co-operating with similar nationalist parties in the European Parliament. It's now a member of the Patriots for Europe group. I think that from that point of view, it is seen as a possible coalition partner for the ANO movement of Mr. Babiš.”
And on that exact subject, especially following their successes in the European elections this year, do you think we're seeing a more confident Motorists party? Could they be on track for government in next year's general elections?
“The Motorists party is basically now an independent group, a truly independent group. In the European elections, it ran in a coalition with Přísaha (‘Oath’), and it was seen basically as a group that is somehow attached to the Oath party, but wasn't really expected to score very well on its own. Then it turned out that the party could actually, according to various opinion polls, be very successful as a political entity, which could run on its own, especially if Mr. Turek remains its prominent face.
“So they decided at the recent congress to run independently of the Oath party. In my opinion, they have, with their agenda, a rather good chance of making it into the Czech Parliament, especially because Mr. Turek seems to be able to attract a lot of voters who previously voted not only for the Civic Democrats, but also for the Freedom and Direct Democracy Party of Mr. Okamura.”
