page_title: 2010 Czech legislative election
section_title: Civic Democratic Party (ODS)
hierarchical_section_title: 2010 Czech legislative election / Campaign / Civic Democratic Party (ODS)
caption_attribution_description: Čeština: Předvolební billboard ODS v Brně English: Pre-election billboard of Civic democratic party in Brno
context_page_description: A legislative election in the Czech Republic took place on 28–29 May 2010 to elect the members of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic. The election had been expected to take place sometime before the end of 2009, but was postponed due to legal challenges. Before the election, the country had been governed by a caretaker administration headed by Jan Fischer. The Czech Social Democratic Party was the front-runner of the election and its leader Jiří Paroubek was favourite to become the new Prime Minister.
  The election saw a loss of support for ČSSD, although they still received the highest number of votes. The conservative Civic Democratic Party and TOP 09 followed in second and third, with the Communist Party finishing fourth. ČSSD leader Jiří Paroubek resigned after the election, conceding that a conservative coalition government appeared likely, due to the rise in support for two new right-wing parties: TOP 09 and Public Affairs (VV). In June, a centre-right coalition of ODS, TOP 09, and VV was formed, with Petr Nečas becoming the prime minister.
context_section_description: ODS launched its campaign on 16 March 2010, with reducing unemployment as the main focus. The party stated it would support shorter working periods and employment of graduates and seniors. The party used mannequins of fictional characters Václav Dobrák and Marie Slušná as campaign mascots and the campaign slogans "ODS is the solution" and "It won't happen without your vote."
  When their main rival ČSSD used blue ambulances in their campaign to attack ODS, the party reacted by parking a demolished orange ambulance outside the Chamber of Deputies to depict how healthcare would look if ČSSD led the government.
  The previous leader of ODS, former Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek, was replaced as leader by Petr Nečas on 26 March 2010, considered a more acceptable and popular candidate than Topolánek. ČSSD leader Jiří Paroubek stated that he could cooperate with Nečas in some circumstances. Nečas rejected Paroubek's comments and stated that ODS would not form a Grand coalition with ČSSD after the election.
  ODS started focusing on economics and public finances in April 2010, promising to reduce public debt to avoid bankruptcy, and using the example of Greece to warn against ČSSD. The party also used negative campaigning against ČSSD, focused primarily on Paroubek.
  The Civic Democrats conducted an active campaign on the internet, communicating with potential voters on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. The party held an online "virtual demonstration" against ČSSD. On 30 April 2010, ODS released an election advert entitled "Your vote", commemorating the trial of Milada Horáková and the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia, and warning against Social Democrats and Communists. The clip urged Jiří Paroubek to resign as ČSSD leader, a response to Paroubek's appeal to some ODS politicians to quit politics.
  Nečas held campaign events in multiple towns across the Czech Republic, meeting potential voters. ODS also featured Nečas heavily in its billboard campaign, launched in May 2010, which presented him as a candidate of "responsible politics".
  Nečas attacked ČSSD over the election debate, criticising the fact that Paroubek had agreed to just three debates, and accusing him of avoiding a confrontation with him. The first head-to-head debate between Nečas and Paroubek was held on 12 April 2018, resulting in no clear winner, according to analysts. A second debate was held on 23 May 2010, also with no clear winner. The last debate was held on 26 May 2010, with journalists judging Nečas to have been better prepared and more confident than Paroubek, and the victor of the debate.
  The party published campaign newspapers with the title Jasně ("Of Course"), introducing their policies and candidates.
  ODS launched the final phase of its campaign, called "120 Hours for Victory", on 23 May 2010. Nečas said that ODS had to "stop Jiří Paroubek and the Communists". 120 Hours for Victory included performances by Czech singers such as Eva Pilarová, Helena Zeťová, Ivan Mládek, Tereza Kerndlová and Jitka Zelenková, attended by hundreds of party supporters. The party invited foreign politicians who came to the event to support ODS. The party was endorsed by British Prime Minister David Cameron and Slovak politician Iveta Radičová who both attended the event.
caption: ODS billboard promising lower taxes
exif: {"Image Make": "Panasonic", "Image Model": "DMC-TZ5", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "180", "Image YResolution": "180", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Ver.1.0", "Image DateTime": "2010:04:24 15:30:02", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "494", "Image PrintIM": "[80, 114, 105, 110, 116, 73, 77, 0, 48, 50, 53, 48, 0, 0, 14, 0, 1, 0, 22, 0, ... ]", "Image Tag 0xC6D2": "[0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, ... ]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "180", "Thumbnail YResolution": "180", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "10132", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "8088", "Thumbnail YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/250", "EXIF FNumber": "24/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Landscape Mode", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "100", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2010:04:24 15:30:02", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2010:04:24 15:30:02", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "4", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "86/25", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, auto mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "171/5", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "3456", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2592", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "9980", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "0", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "199", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal"}