Dawn – National Coalition Explained

Country:the Czech Republic
Dawn – National Coalition
Native Name:Úsvit – Národní koalice
Leader1 Title:Leader
Leader1 Name:Tomio Okamura
Marek Černoch
Miroslav Lidinský
Position:Far-right[1]
Membership:273[2]
Headquarters:Papírenská 6B, 160 00 Prague 6

Dawn – National Coalition (Czech: Úsvit – Národní koalice), short Dawn, (from June 2014 to August 2015) Dawn of Direct Democracy (Czech: Úsvit přímé demokracie) or (from June 2013 to June 2014) Tomio Okamura's Dawn of Direct Democracy (Czech: Úsvit přímé demokracie Tomia Okamury), was a right-wing populist, Eurosceptic political party in the Czech Republic.

Origins

The party was founded in May 2013 by Tomio Okamura,[3] [4] an independent senator attached to the Christian Democratic parliamentary group. Tomio Okamura's Dawn of Direct Democracy supported the implementation of direct democracy at all levels "as a solution to the corruption, nepotism, clientelism and kleptocracy,"[5] the use of referendums, the direct election of deputies, senators, mayors and regional governors, a presidential system and, consequently, a stronger separation of powers.[6] [7] [8]

Founding members of Dawn of Direct Democracy included members of Public Affairs,[9] [10] a former member of the Civic Democratic Party,[11] and a representative of Moravané.[12]

In the parliamentary election of 2013 the party obtained 342,339 votes (6.88%),[13] winning 14 seats.[14] These included two deputies elected in the Central Bohemian Region, and one each in all others except the Plzen Region and Karlovy Vary Region.[14]

Party split

On 19 January 2015, Chief Whip Radim Fiala was removed and replaced by .

In February 2015, most of the nine members of the party and the 14 members of the Dawn parliamentary group decided to establish a new party, without leader Tomio Okamura.[15] [16] On 26 February 2015, Okamura announced that the party was experiencing serious financial difficulties. Since their election to the parliament, the party had been receiving millions of Czech crowns from the state each year.[17]

Several members of Dawn have created new parties, including Freedom and Direct Democracy, led by Okamura, and the Party of National Interests led by Petr Adam.

On 7 July 2015, Dawn announced plans to merge with the Party of the National Interests, which they did in August the same year. Retired veteran Miroslav Lidinský was elected as party chairman and the name was changed to Dawn – National Coalition. They also began working with the We do not want Islam in the Czech Republic group led by Martin Konvička. However, this collaboration also failed soon after, and Dawn's popularity has continued to decline. According to opinion polling, Dawn was unlikely to exceed the threshold for entry into parliament at the 2017 legislative elections.

Dawn MP Martin Lank left the party in May 2017, which reduced the parliamentary group to six MPs,[18] further reduced to five on 6 June 2017 with the departure of Jana Hnyková.[19] On 7 June 2017, Marek Černoch also left Dawn.[20]

Dawn did not participate in the 2017 legislative election. In July 2017, prominent party members stated their intention to participate in local elections in 2018.[21] The party was dissolved in March 2018.[22]

Election results

Local election

Leaders

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. Web site: After the elections in the Czech Republic: The end of liberal democracy in Central Europe?. 7 November 2017. Heinrich Böll Foundation. Eva van de Rakt.
  2. News: Místo členů nabírají některé strany registrované příznivce. Denik.cz. 25 September 2016. 21 August 2016.
  3. Web site: Malé strany zažívají před volbami boom. K Babišovi i Okamurovi vstupují tisíce lidí . 22 August 2013 . Politika . 26 October 2013.
  4. Web site: Czech News Agency . Okamura žádá o registraci hnutí Úsvit přímé demokracie. 13 May 2013. Aktualne. 26 October 2013.
  5. Web site: A Czech election with consequences . openDemocracy . 14 October 2013 . 26 October 2013 . 13 January 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140113193854/http://www.opendemocracy.net/can-europe-make-it/jan-horn%C3%A1t/czech-election-with-consequences . dead .
  6. Web site: Ministerstvo zaregistrovalo hnutí Úsvit přímé demokracie . Úsvit Přímé Demokracie Tomia Okamury . 20 June 2013 . 26 October 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131002064745/http://www.hnutiusvit.cz/novinky/ministerstvo-zaregistrovalo-hnuti-usvit-prime-demokracie/ . 2 October 2013 . dead .
  7. Web site: Okamura bude volebním lídrem svého Úsvitu ve středních Čechách . CeskeNoviny. 6 September 2013 . 26 October 2013.
  8. http://www.hnutiusvit.cz/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/StanovyHU.pdf Uploads
  9. Web site: News. Radio Prague. 3 September 2013. 26 October 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131015163937/http://www.radio.cz/en/section/news/news-2013-09-03#1. 15 October 2013. dead.
  10. Web site: News. Radio Prague. 9 September 2013. 26 October 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131015163915/http://www.radio.cz/en/section/news/news-2013-09-09#3. 15 October 2013. dead.
  11. Web site: Ing. Radim Fiala Úsvit Přímé Demokracie Tomia Okamury. Hnutiusvit. 26 October 2013. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20131031031307/http://www.hnutiusvit.cz/osobnosti/radim-fiala/. 31 October 2013.
  12. Web site: Moravané půjdou do voleb s hnutím Úsvit Tomia Okamury. 31 August 2013. iDNES. 26 October 2013.
  13. Web site: Celkové výsledky hlasování. volby.cz. 1 April 2018.
  14. Web site: Přehled zisků mandátů. volby.cz. 1 April 2018.
  15. Web site: Puč dokonán dle Okamury, Úsvit odsouhlasil novou stranu. 24 February 2015. Czech Television. Czech. 26 February 2015.
  16. Web site: Okamura cries 'putsch!'. 11 February 2015. Prague Post. 26 February 2015. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20150226154510/http://www.praguepost.com/czech-news/44325-okamura-cries-putsch. 26 February 2015.
  17. Web site: Úsvit je v minusu, přiznal Okamura. Odstoupit nehodlá. Lang. Václav . 26 February 2015. novinky.cz. cs. 26 February 2015.
  18. Web site: Poslanec Lank opustil Úsvit, míří k Realistům. Bude pro nás posilou, slibuje si šéf strany Robejšek. Aktuálně.cz. 6 June 2017. cs. 25 May 2017.
  19. Web site: Úsvit se rozpadá. Po Lankovi mu dává sbohem i poslankyně Hnyková. iDNES.cz. 6 June 2017. 6 June 2017.
  20. Web site: V Úsvitu končí další poslanec, odchází Marek Černoch. Novinky.cz. 7 June 2017 . 7 June 2017. cs.
  21. Web site: Soumrak Úsvitu. Hnutí řeší, co s miliony přebytku i vlastní budoucností. iDNES.cz. 15 September 2017. 18 July 2017.
  22. Web site: Seznam politických stran a hnutí - Ministerstvo vnitra České republiky . aplikace.mvcr.cz . 29 July 2018 .