Workers' Party of Social Justice

Workers' Party of Social Justice
Dělnická strana sociální spravedlnosti
AbbreviationDSSS
FounderJan Broj
FoundedJanuary 29, 2004; 20 years ago (2004-01-29)
DissolvedOctober 19, 2024; 2 months ago (2024-10-19)
Preceded byWorkers' Party (since 2010)
HeadquartersCiolkovského 853/1
161 00 Prague
NewspaperWorkers' List
Youth wingWorkers' Youth
Paramilitary wingCivic Guards[1]
Ideology
Political positionFar-right[2][3][7][8]
Colours  White
  Red
  Blue
Website
www.dsss.cz

The Workers' Party of Social Justice (Czech: Dělnická strana sociální spravedlnosti) was a Czech political party, often described as the major far-right extremist party in the Czech Republic. The party was not represented in any legislative body in the Czech Republic and its biggest electoral success has been a gain of 1.14% in the Czech legislative election in 2010. Some of the high-ranking party officials, including a Prague party leader, have been associated with neo-Nazi groups such as Národní odpor, the Czech subsidiary of an international militant neo-Nazi group.[9][10] In spring 2009 the petition for the ban on the party was dismissed by the Czech Supreme Administrative Court,[11] because, as the presiding judge stated, the applicant (Czech government) didn't manage to provide sufficient evidence in what was seen as a botched application.[12][13] Following violent attacks against Czech minorities by far-right extremists[14] (such as the Vítkov arson attack of 2009), the government filed a more detailed petition for the ban, which was discussed by the Czech Supreme Court in January and February 2010. The party was banned, making it the first instance of banning a party for its ideology in the modern history of the Czech Republic.[15] The party was transformed into a "Party of Citizens of the Czech Republic"[16] and the party was renamed to Workers' Party of Social Justice. The party's program was kept the same with small adjustments.

Ideology and program

[edit]

The party was formed in 2004 and received less than 1% of the vote in its first election, but shortly afterwards attracted major media attention for organizing riots in quarters of Litvínov with a significant Roma population.[17][18] Afterwards, the party has managed to maintain considerable publicity by organizing a march against homosexuals[19] in Tábor.

The party then started to emphasize a nationalist dimension of its program, mostly seeking to overhaul what they saw as a favorable treatment of minorities, and engaged in radically anti-communist rhetoric; on the 20th anniversary of the collapse of Communism in Czechoslovakia, the party leader Tomáš Vandas said: "So what is the state of the society nowadays? In one word: tragic. Communists still govern us."[20]

The party has repeatedly called for the overthrow and subversion of the Czech political system, which the party described both as "liberal"[21] and "totalitarian".[22] Its official slogan for the 2009 European elections was "Resist the totalitarian regime".

The party's program included reducing national debt while increasing old age pensions and reducing the retirement age.[23] Some of the more concrete proposals included restrictions on foreign investment, including a total ban on purchases of real estate by foreign nationals[23] and nationalization of certain companies.[24]

The party also wanted to restore the death penalty,[24] criminalize "sexual deviation", including homosexuality,[24] abolish registered partnership, reduce rights of criminal defendants[24] and in some cases create new crimes with a retroactive effect.[24] Some of the most controversial proposals included marking of ethnicity in ID cards[25] and giving the police discretion to treat the arrested person inhumanly.[24]

In international affairs, the party opposed NATO and the European Union, and demanded that the Czech Republic leave those organizations.[25] The party was strongly anti-American and seemed to be pro-Russian,[26] going as far as stating that the Czech Republic must "immediately and strongly restore its relations with Russia".[27] Concerning other matters in international affairs, the chairman of the party arbitration commission congratulated Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran after his victory in the 2009 presidential election.[28]

Election results

[edit]

Czech legislative election

[edit]
Year # of total votes Vote % Seats
2010 59,888 1.14 (10)Increase 0
2013 42,906 0.86 (12)Decrease 0
2017 10,402 0.20 (16) Decrease 0

European Parliament

[edit]
Election List leader Votes % Seats +/− EP Group
2014[a] Tomáš Vandas 7,902 0.52 (#15)
0 / 22
 New −
2019[b] 4,363 0.18 (#23)
0 / 22
 Steady 0
2024[c] Hynek Blaško 14,910 0.50 (#12)
0 / 22
 Steady 0
  1. ^ Run in a joint list with SPE.
  2. ^ Run in a joint list with NF.
  3. ^ Run as part of the Alliance for the Independence of the Czech Republic.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "DSSS obnovila činnost svých stranických hlídek". ct24.ceskatelevize.cz. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Mareš, Miroslav (2012). "Right-Wing Extremism in the Czech Republic" (PDF). Friedrich Ebert Foundation. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
  3. ^ a b Lochmannová, Alena; Kolář, Ondřej (2021). Extremism Behind Bars. Pilsen: Západočeská univerzita. p. 83. ISBN 9788026110248.
  4. ^ Cameron, Rob (4 May 2017). "Photo of Czech girl Scout standing up to skinhead goes viral". BBC News. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
  5. ^ Bardovic, Jaroslav; Mihalik, Jakub (2019). Migration: The Challenge of European States. Stuttgart: ibidem. p. 138. ISBN 9783838213446.
  6. ^ Rosenfeld, Alvin H. (2019). Anti-Zionism and Antisemitism: The Dynamics of Delegitimization. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. p. 425. ISBN 9780253038722.
  7. ^ Lansford, Tom (2015). Political Handbook of the World 2015. New York City: CQ Press. ISBN 9781483371559. Originally formed as the Worker's Party, a far-right grouping led by Tomaše VANDASE
  8. ^ Deland, Mats; Minkenberg, Michael; Mays, Christin (2014). In the Tracks of Breivik: Far Right Networks in Northern and Eastern Europe. Münster: LIT Verlag. p. 79. ISBN 9783643905420.
  9. ^ [1]. Workers' Party election candidates and Nazi symbols (only in Czech, with photographs)
  10. ^ [2]. Workers' Party has been taken over by neo-Nazis (only in Czech)
  11. ^ [3]. Supreme administrative court judgment, 4.3.2009 (only in Czech)
  12. ^ [4]. Top court rejects government's petition to ban extremist Workers' Party
  13. ^ [5]. (only in Czech)
  14. ^ [6]. Czech Police arrested extremist leaders over Vítkov arson
  15. ^ "Soud zrušil Dělnickou stranu. Chtěla rozvrátit stát - Aktuálně.cz". 17 February 2010.
  16. ^ "Zakázaná Dělnická strana půjde do voleb, jen pod jinou hlavičkou - Domov". Lidovky.cz. 20 February 2010.
  17. ^ [7]. Litvinov has seen a rough fight with the extremists, 15 injured. (only in Czech)
  18. ^ [8]. Journalist injured while covering rally
  19. ^ [9]. Saturday in Tabor: both gays and extremists (only in Czech)
  20. ^ [10]. Speech of the party chairman, November 17, 2009 (only in Czech)
  21. ^ [11]. Workers news: "Let's clean up our own country". (Official party newspaper, only in Czech)
  22. ^ [12]. Workers news: "Vandas: The post-November regime has discredited itself". (Official party newspaper, only in Czech)
  23. ^ a b [13]. Party program, article III
  24. ^ a b c d e f [14]. Party program, article II
  25. ^ a b [15]. Party program, article I
  26. ^ [16]. Workers news: "Nobody really wants a change?" (Official party newspaper, only in Czech)
  27. ^ [17]. Workers news: "Confession of a patriot and a good son of the Homeland" (Official party newspaper, only in Czech)
  28. ^ [18]. Workers news: "Who do you want to lecture?" (Official party newspaper, only in Czech)
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