Civic Movement

The Civic Movement (Czech: Občanské hnutí, OH) was a liberal political party based in the Czech Republic, which existed from 1991 to 1995. The party was established after the break-up of Civic Forum by the liberal wing of Civic Forum, while the conservative wing established the Civic Democratic Party.^[2] Foreign Minister Jiří Dienstbier was elected leader of the Civic Movement. The party participated in the 1992 legislative election but failed to reach the required 5% threshold and was left without parliamentary representation.

Civic Movement Občanské hnutí
Leader	Jiří Dienstbier
Founded	27 April 1991 (1991-04-27)
Dissolved	December 1995
Preceded by	Civic Forum
Merged into	Free Democrats – Liberal National Social Party
Ideology	Liberalism Social liberalism
Political position	Centre to centre-left[1]
European affiliation	ELDR (affiliate)
International affiliation	Liberal International
Politics of the Czech Republic Political parties Elections

The party then renamed itself as the Free Democrats (Svobodní demokraté, SD),^[3] modelled on the Free Democratic Party of Germany, as the party tried to position itself as a more clearcut liberal party.^[4] The party joined the Liberal International and was admitted as an affiliate to the European Liberal Democrats and Reformists (ELDR) in 1994.^[5]

In December 1995 the Free Democrats merged with the Liberal National Social Party (successor to the former bloc party Czechoslovak Socialist Party) and formed the Free Democrats – Liberal National Social Party (SD-LSNS), which was again, however, unsuccessful in the 1996 legislative election.^[6][7] Some former members of OH established the Party for the Open Society in 1998.

Election results

Chamber of Deputies

Year	Vote	Vote %	Seats	Place	Notes	Position
1990	...	...	44 / 200	1st	Split from Civic Forum in 1991	Majority Government
1992	297,406	4.6	0 / 200	9th		extra-parliamentary
1996	124,165	2.05	0 / 200	9th	as Free Democrats – Liberal National Social Party	extra-parliamentary

References

1. "Občanské fórum (OF) provedlo zemi prvními lety demokracie | ČeskéNoviny.cz". www.ceskenoviny.cz. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
2. "Podle Klause se ODS mění v Občanské hnutí". ČT24. Česká televize. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
3. Nekvapil, Václav; Kubáček, Jan (23 June 2011). Testy – Politologie a mezinárodní vztahy (in Czech). Fragment, Albatros Media a.s. ISBN 9788025315804. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
4. Fawn, Rick; Hochman, Jiří (2010). "Free Democrats–Liberal National Social Party". Historical Dictionary of the Czech State (2nd ed.). Scarecrow Press. pp. 102–103.
5. Öhlén, Mats (August 2008). "The Eastward Expansion of the European Liberal Party Family: the Relation between the European Liberal Party Family and Liberal Parties in Central and Eastern Europe". XV Conference of the Nordic Political Science Association (NoPSA). Tromsø: 11, 13.
6. "POLITIKA: Dvacet let by bylo i Občanskému hnutí". Lidovky.cz. 2 May 2011. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
7. "OF(F). Před čtvrtstoletím se rozpadlo Občanské fórum". ČT24. Česká televize. Retrieved 9 January 2017.