The Christian Democratic Party is gearing up for the autumn general elections. At the party’s weekend conference in Prague, its leader Pavel Bělobrádek was re-elected by a strong majority and won approval for an election coalition with the grouping of Mayors and Independents, presenting the alliance as a guarantor of strength, democracy and security in the turbulent and often murky waters of Czech politics.

Following a government crisis in which the Christian Democratic Party alone was not implicated, its leader Pavel Bělobrádek made a rousing call to battle ahead of the autumn elections.

“We want to be the decisive force in Czech politics. We want to offer voters an alternative –a trustworthy political party which is not burdened by the past and is focussed on the future and the need to modernize the country.”

In a passionate speech on the opening day of the conference Bělobrádek said the Czech Republic faced a choice which would decide its future – whether it would remain a standard parliamentary democracy, move towards authoritarian rule or a semi-presidential system. It was a shot at AN0 leader Andrej Babiš who is said to run his party as he did his business empire and criticism of President Zeman who has come under fire for overstepping his powers as head of state.

Bělobrádek, who helped the Christian Democrats back into national politics in 2013, was re-elected party leader by a strong majority and easily won support for his plan to create an election coalition with the Mayors AND Independents. He was confident enough about the plan to unveil a promo video of the coalition to be used in the election campaign. Zlín governor Jiří Čunek, who challenged him for the top post at the last minute, suffered a humiliating defeat.

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