page_title: Civic Democratic Party (Czech Republic)
section_title: Ideology
hierarchical_section_title: Civic Democratic Party (Czech Republic) / Ideology
caption_attribution_description: Čeština: Předvolební stránek Občanské demokratické strany (s podporou Svobodných a spolu Brno Autem) před komunálními (a senátními) volbami v říjnu 2018. Před stánkem stojí lídryně kandidátky Markéta Vaňková.
context_page_description: The Civic Democratic Party is a liberal-conservative eurosceptic political party in the Czech Republic. It holds 25 seats in the Chamber of Deputies, and is the second strongest party following the 2017 election.
  Founded in 1991 as the pro-free market wing of the Civic Forum by Václav Klaus and modelled on the British Conservative Party, the ODS won the 1992 legislative election, and has remained in government for most of the Czech Republic's independence. In every legislative it emerged as one of the two strongest parties. Václav Klaus served as the first Prime Minister of the Czech Republic after the partition of Czechoslovakia, from 1993 to 1997. Mirek Topolánek, who succeeded him as leader of the party in December 2002, served as Prime Minister from 2006 to 2009. In the 2010 election, the party lost 28 seats, finishing second, but as the largest party right of the centre, it formed a centre-right government with Petr Nečas as Prime Minister. In the 2013 legislative election, the party was marginalized by only securing 16 seats in the Chamber of Deputies, relegating the party to the opposition since July 2013.
context_section_description: The ODS is liberal-conservative and conservative-liberal, supports economic liberalism, and is Eurosceptic. There are also multiple ideological factions in the party, including the national conservative faction, the national liberal faction, the Christian conservative faction (former Christian Democratic Party) and so on.
  The party's ideas are very close to those of the British Conservative Party, Swedish Moderate Party, and other liberal-conservative parties in Europe. The basic principles of the party's program are "low taxes, public finances and future without debts, support for families with children, addressable social system, reducing bureaucracy, better conditions for business, a safe state with the transatlantic links. No tricks and populism." The party also supports personal freedom, Western liberal democracy, rejects collectivist ideologies and describes itself as following the tradition of European Christian civilization.
  Many prominent politicians in the party openly oppose political correctness and call for tougher measures to combat radical Islam which they liken to Nazism.
  Although the party was in power when the Lisbon Treaty was ratified in the Czech Republic, ODS supports maintaining Czech sovereignty and integrity against the European Union, calls for a fundamental reform of the EU and strongly opposes any federalization of Europe in the form of the EU becoming a quasi-state entity. Following the EU referendum in Britain which resulted in the United Kingdom voting to leave, ODS leader Petr Fiala said the Czech Republic "should reconsider its existence in European Union" and negotiate new conditions for the country. The party is a member of the European Conservatives and Reformists group which seeks to oppose unchecked European integration. 
  ODS calls for an immigration system that must be beneficial for the Czech Republic, that only a certain number of immigrants can be accepted and conditions for permanent residency should be easier for people who are beneficial for the country while conditions must be made harder for those who abuse the system. The party supports compulsory measures for immigrants to speak the Czech language, learn about Czech history and adapt to local customs and cultures. ODS is also opposed to compulsory EU migrant quotas by arguing that the Czech Republic should have sovereignty over its own border control and that forcing nations to take in migrants without sufficient vetting or orderly processing and integration poses a threat to national security, social cohesion and native European culture. ODS believes that all individual nations should have the right to determine their own immigration policies. 
  ODS also supports the right of law abiding citizens to own and carry firearms, being the main reason Czech gun laws are much more liberal than in nearly all other European countries. This makes them different to parties they are based on, as most of them, especially British Conservatives, reject the idea that anyone has a right to own and carry firearms and other weapons, making the ODS much more similar to American Republicans in this matter, although they still support gun control measures (such as background checks, licenses and registration). ODS, especially its defense expert Jana Černochová, was one of the main supporters of embedding the right to keep and bear arms for the purposes of national security into the Czech constitution, although it was Social Democrat Milan Chovanec who originally proposed it. The amendment failed in the Senate, but there is a proposal to submit it again after the 2018 elections in which the ODS gained several seats.
caption: Pre-election meeting in Brno in 2018
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