Dawn – National Coalition

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,[2][3][4][5] Eurosceptic[6] political party in the Czech Republic.

Dawn – National Coalition
Úsvit – Národní koalice
LeaderTomio Okamura
Marek Černoch
Miroslav Lidinský
Founded13 June 2013 (2013-06-13)
Dissolved20 March 2018 (2018-03-20)
HeadquartersPapírenská 6B, 160 00 Prague 6
Membership273[1]
Ideology
Political positionFar-right[7]
Colours   Red, Blue

Origins

The party was founded in May 2013 by Tomio Okamura,[8][9] 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,"[10] the use of referendums, the direct election of deputies, senators, mayors and regional governors, a presidential system and, consequently, a stronger separation of powers.[11][12][13]

Founding members of Dawn of Direct Democracy included members of Public Affairs,[14][15] a former member of the Civic Democratic Party,[16] and a representative of Moravané.[17]

In the parliamentary election of 2013 the party obtained 342,339 votes (6.88%),[18] winning 14 seats.[19] These included two deputies elected in the Central Bohemian Region, and one each in all others except the Plzen Region and Karlovy Vary Region.[19]

Party split

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

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.[20][21] 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.[22]

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.

Original logo of the party

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 Don't Want Islam in the Czech Republic movement (Czech: Islám v České republice nechceme) 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,[23] further reduced to five on 6 June 2017 with the departure of Jana Hnyková.[24] On 7 June 2017, Marek Černoch also left Dawn.[25]

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.[26] The party was dissolved in March 2018.[27]

Election results

Chamber of Deputies
Year Vote Vote % Seats Place
2013 342,339 6.88
14 / 200
 6th

Senate
Election First round Second round Seats
Votes % Places Votes % Places
201413,3311.3011th---
0 / 27

European Parliament
ElectionVotesShare of votes in %Seats obtainedPlace
2014
47,306
3.12
0 / 22
10th

Local election
ElectionShare of votes in %Councillors
2014
0.65
54

Leaders

References
  1. "Místo členů nabírají některé strany registrované příznivce". Denik.cz. 21 August 2016. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
  2. Nordsieck, Wolfram (2017). "Czechia". Parties and Elections in Europe. Archived from the original on 19 September 2018. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
  3. "Czech elections: An angry electorate", The Economist, 25 October 2013
  4. Jan Richter (26 October 2013), "Czech general elections yield no obvious coalition", Radio Prague
  5. "Sme: Okamura's politics is social, national populism", Prague Daily Monitor, 26 October 2013, archived from the original on 29 October 2013
  6. "Úsvit navrhuje zákon o referendu o vystoupení z EU".
  7. Eva van de Rakt, ed. (7 November 2017). "After the elections in the Czech Republic: The end of liberal democracy in Central Europe?". Heinrich Böll Foundation.
  8. "Malé strany zažívají před volbami boom. K Babišovi i Okamurovi vstupují tisíce lidí". Politika. 22 August 2013. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
  9. "Okamura žádá o registraci hnutí Úsvit přímé demokracie". Aktualne. Czech News Agency. 13 May 2013. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
  10. "A Czech election with consequences". openDemocracy. 14 October 2013. Archived from the original on 13 January 2014. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
  11. "Ministerstvo zaregistrovalo hnutí Úsvit přímé demokracie". Úsvit Přímé Demokracie Tomia Okamury. 20 June 2013. Archived from the original on 2 October 2013. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
  12. "Okamura bude volebním lídrem svého Úsvitu ve středních Čechách". CeskeNoviny. 6 September 2013. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
  13. Uploads Archived 2013-10-16 at the Wayback Machine Hnutiusvit
  14. "News". Radio Prague. 3 September 2013. Archived from the original on 15 October 2013. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
  15. "News". Radio Prague. 9 September 2013. Archived from the original on 15 October 2013. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
  16. "Ing. Radim Fiala Úsvit Přímé Demokracie Tomia Okamury". Hnutiusvit. Archived from the original on 31 October 2013. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
  17. "Moravané půjdou do voleb s hnutím Úsvit Tomia Okamury". iDNES. 31 August 2013. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
  18. "Celkové výsledky hlasování". volby.cz. Retrieved 1 April 2018.
  19. "Přehled zisků mandátů". volby.cz. Retrieved 1 April 2018.
  20. "Puč dokonán dle Okamury, Úsvit odsouhlasil novou stranu" (in Czech). Czech Television. 24 February 2015. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
  21. "Okamura cries 'putsch!'". Prague Post. 11 February 2015. Archived from the original on 26 February 2015. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
  22. Lang, Václav (26 February 2015). "Úsvit je v minusu, přiznal Okamura. Odstoupit nehodlá" (in Czech). novinky.cz. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
  23. "Poslanec Lank opustil Úsvit, míří k Realistům. Bude pro nás posilou, slibuje si šéf strany Robejšek". Aktuálně.cz (in Czech). 25 May 2017. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  24. "Úsvit se rozpadá. Po Lankovi mu dává sbohem i poslankyně Hnyková". iDNES.cz. 6 June 2017. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  25. "V Úsvitu končí další poslanec, odchází Marek Černoch". Novinky.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 7 June 2017.
  26. "Soumrak Úsvitu. Hnutí řeší, co s miliony přebytku i vlastní budoucností". iDNES.cz. 18 July 2017. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
  27. "Seznam politických stran a hnutí - Ministerstvo vnitra České republiky". aplikace.mvcr.cz. Retrieved 29 July 2018.

Further reading
  • Hloušek, Vít; Kopeček, Lubomír; Vodová, Petra (2020). The Rise of Entrepreneurial Parties in European Politics. Springer Nature. ISBN 978-3-030-41916-5.

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