TOP 09

TOP 09 (Czech: Tradice Odpovědnost Prosperita, lit. 'Tradition Responsibility Prosperity')[13] is a liberal-conservative[3][4][5][6] political party in the Czech Republic, led by Markéta Pekarová Adamová. 14 of its members sit in the Chamber of Deputies, and three of them are MEPs.

TOP 09
LeaderMarkéta Pekarová Adamová
Deputy LeadersTomáš Czernin
Jan Jakob
Michal Kučera
Herbert Pavera
Vlastimil Válek
Chamber of Deputies LeaderJan Jakob
MEP LeaderLuděk Niedermayer
FoundersMiroslav Kalousek
Karel Schwarzenberg
Founded11 June 2009 (2009-06-11)
Split fromKDU–ČSL[1]
HeadquartersOpletalova 1603/57, Prague
Think tankTOPAZ
Youth wingTOP Team
Membership (2021)2,481[2]
IdeologyLiberal conservatism[3][4][5][6]
Christian democracy[7]
Liberalism[8][9][10]
Pro-Europeanism[11]
Political positionCentre-right[12]
National affiliationSPOLU
European affiliationEuropean People's Party
International affiliationInternational Democrat Union
European Parliament groupEuropean People's Party
Colours   
  (customary)
Chamber of Deputies
14 / 200
Senate
6 / 81
European Parliament
2 / 21
Regional councils
20 / 675
Governors of the regions
0 / 13
Local councils
483 / 61,892
Website
www.top09.cz

History

Foundation and participation in government

The party was founded on 11 June 2009 by Miroslav Kalousek who left the Christian and Democratic Union – Czechoslovak People's Party.[14] Its first leader was Karel Schwarzenberg, who had previously served as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the second Topolánek cabinet from January 2007 to March 2009, having been nominated by the Green Party for the post, and who had been elected to the Senate in 2004 as nominee of the Freedom Union – Democratic Union (US-DEU) and Civic Democratic Alliance (ODA) parties.[15][16]

Karel Schwarzenberg, Honorary chairman and former leader of TOP 09

In the 2010 parliament elections on 28–29 May 2010, TOP 09 received 16.7% of the vote and 41 seats, becoming the third largest party.[17] The party joined the Nečas cabinet, forming a coalition with the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) and Public Affairs (VV).[18]

In September 2010 TOP 09 applied to join the European People's Party. Karel Schwarzenberg had already officially participated in two EPP summits (15 September[19] and 16 December 2010[20]). On 10 February 2011 TOP 09 was granted permission to join the EPP.[21]

In the 2013 legislative election on 25–26 October 2013, TOP 09 won 12% of the vote and 26 seats. The party became part of the parliamentary opposition to the Sobotka cabinet.

Opposition and cooperation with STAN and ODS

In the 2014 European elections on 24 and 25 May 2014, TOP 09 reached second place nationally with 15.95% of the vote, electing 4 MEPs.

Karel Schwarzenberg left the position of leader in 2015. He was replaced by Miroslav Kalousek afterwards.

In March 2016, Karel Tureček left the party and joined ANO 2011, which left TOP 09 with 25 MPs.[22] In May 2016, Pavol Lukša, one of founders of TOP 09, left the party and established a new party, Good Choice.[23]

The 2016 Czech regional elections were a major loss for TOP 09. The party gained only 19 seats and 3.4% of the vote. Miroslav Kalousek then considered resigning, but decided to remain the party’s leader.[24]

In January 2017, TOP 09 introduced a new program called Vision 2030, in which it declared intentions to adopt the Euro, implement electronical voting, and increase health standards in Czechia to Germany's level. TOP 09 also wanted to shorten the working week to 4 days. Miroslav Kalousek said he believed that TOP 09 would get over 10% in the upcoming legislative election even though recent opinion polls indicated that TOP 09 might not reach the 5% threshold.[25][26]

Ahead of the 2017 parliamentary elections, TOP 09 was endorsed by The Czech Crown, Conservative Party, Club of Committed Non-Party Members and Liberal-Environmental Party.[27][28] The party eventually received 5.3% of the vote, gaining 7 seats. Jiří Pospíšil became the new leader after the election.[29]

In the next year municipal elections TOP 09 got only 1.1 per cent of the vote nationally. The best performance for the party was in the Prague City council elections, following which it joined a coalition with the Czech Pirate Party and Prague Together.

In November, 2019, Markéta Pekarová Adamová was elected party’s leader.[30] In late 2020, TOP 09 formed an electoral alliance with KDU-ČSL and ODS called SPOLU, to run in the 2021 elections.[31] The alliance won the popular vote and formed a coalition with the Pirates and Mayors alliance. As a result of agreements made to form these alliances, TOP 09 leader Markéta Pekarová Adamová became President of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic .

On 20 November 2021 Pekarová Adamová was reelected in a TOP 09 leadership election, with 163 out of 176 votes, being the only candidate.[32]

Ideology

TOP 09 is characterised most prominently by its fiscal conservatism and its pro-Europeanism,[11] being firmly in favour of European integration.[33] Generally, the party is considered to lean towards both liberal and conservative strains of right-of-centre thought, gradually becoming increasingly liberal compared to its official stance of conservatism.[34]

Election results

Below are charts of the results that the TOP09 has secured in the Chamber of Deputies, Senate, European Parliament, and regional assemblies at each election.

Party leader Markéta Pekarová Adamová

Chamber of Deputies
Year Leader Vote Vote % Seats +/− Place Position
2010 Karel Schwarzenberg 873,833 16.7
41 / 200
 3rd Coalition
2013 Karel Schwarzenberg 596,357 12.0
26 / 200
 Decrease15 4th Decrease Opposition
2017 Miroslav Kalousek 268,811 5.3
7 / 200
 Decrease19 8th Decrease Opposition
2021 Markéta Pekarová Adamová 1,493,701 27.79
14 / 200
 Increase7 1st Increase Coalition
Part of SPOLU coalition, which won 71 seats in total
Ex leader of TOP 09 MEP Jiří Pospíšil

Senate
Election First round Second round Seats Total seats +/-
Votes % Places Votes % Places
2010165,27714.403rd51,3107.543rd
2 / 27
2 / 81
Increase 2
201112,0537.514th 
0 / 1
2 / 81
Steady
201257,9076.595th9,9181.935th
2 / 27
4 / 81
Increase 2
201492,1378.985th30,4766.436th
0 / 27
4 / 81
Steady
201422,05515.553rd 
0 / 1
4 / 81
Steady
201670,6538.026th30,8207.275th
2 / 27
4 / 81
Steady
201837,615 33.511st30,33167.111st
1 / 1
4 / 81
Steady
201841,9803.857th22,5805.408th
1 / 27
3 / 81
Decrease 1
202046,5754.677th33,9387.514th
2 / 27
5 / 81
Increase 2

Notes:
1 By-election in Kladno district.
2 By-election in Prague 10 district
3 By-election in Trutnov district. TOP 09 supported a STAN candidate Jan Sobotka.

Presidential
Election Candidate First round result Second round result
Votes %Votes Result Votes %Votes Result
2013 Karel Schwarzenberg 1,204,195 23.40 Runner-up 2,241,171 45.20 Lost
2018 Jiří Drahoš 1,369,601 26.60 Runner-up 2,701,206 48.63 Lost
2023[lower-alpha 1] Petr Pavel 1,975,056 35.40 Winner 3,358,926 58.33 Won
Danuše Nerudová 777,080 13.93 3rd place supported Petr Pavel
Pavel Fischer 376,705 6.75 4th place supported Petr Pavel
  1. The SPOLU coalition supported 3 independent candidates for this election.

European Parliament
Year Vote Vote % Seats Place
2014 241,747 16.0
4 / 21
 2nd Increase
2019 276,220 11.7
3 / 21
 4th Decrease

Local election
Year Vote Vote % Seats
2010 8,537,461 9.5
1,509 / 62,178
2014 8,324,195 8.4
726 / 62,300
2018 1,241,976 4.8
483 / 61,892

Prague municipal elections
Year Leader Vote Vote % Seats +/− Place Position
2010 Zdeněk Tůma 1,043,008 30.2
26 / 65
 1st Opposition (2010–2013)
2014 Tomáš Hudeček 4,158,226 20.1
16 / 65
 Decrease10 2nd Opposition
2018 Jiří Pospíšil 4,127,063 16.3
13 / 65
 Decrease3 4th Coalition

Regional election
Year Vote Vote % Seats +/- Place Note
2012 175,089 6.6
19 / 675
 5th
2016 86,164 Decrease 3.4 Decrease
19 / 675
 Steady 9th
2020 Party didn't run on a single list
20 / 675
 1 Increase 9th [n 1]
Former TOP09 leaders Karel von Schwarzenberg and Miroslav Kalousek

2020 Czech regional election results[35]
Region Coalition partner # of
overall votes		 % of
overall vote		 Seats Governance[36]
# ± Position
Central Bohemian Greens and Voice 24,650 5.89
2 / 65
 Decrease 3 Increase 5th STAN–ODS–Pirates–TOP 09+Greens-Voice
South Bohemian KDU-ČSL 20,798 10.45
3 / 55
 Steady Steady 7th ODS–KDU-ČSL+TOP 09–ČSSD–JIH12
Plzeň ODS 36,890 21.23
2 / 45
 Decrease 1 Decrease 7th ODS+TOP 09–STAN–Pirates
Karlovy Vary STAN 11,700 14.66
1 / 45
 Steady Decrease 10th STAN+TOP 09-Pirates-ODS+KDU ČSL-Local movements
Ústí nad Labem Greens and SNK ED 12,220 6.11
1 / 55
 Increase 1 Increase 8th ANO–ODS–TOP 09+Greens
Liberec KDU-ČSL 5,328 3.83 — Steady Increase 7th Mayors for Liberec Region–Pirates–ODS
Hradec Králové Hradec Králové Democratic Club 13,891 7.84
1 / 45
 Decrease 3 Decrease 10th ODS+STAN+VČ–KDU-ČSL–Pirates–TOP 09+HDK
Pardubice ODS 23,434 14.10
2 / 45
 Increase 2 Increase 8th ČSSD–ODS+TOP 09–KDU-ČSL–STAN
Vysočina KAN and Czech Crown 7,972 4.99 — Steady Steady 8th ODS+STO–Pirates–KDU-ČSL–ČSSD–STAN
South Moravian Greens 24,039 6.62
4 / 65
 Increase 1 Steady 6th KDU-ČSL–Pirates–ODS–STAN
Olomouc KDU-ČSL and Greens 34,519 18.43
2 / 55
 Increase 2 Increase 7th STAN+Pirates–KDU-ČSL+TOP 09–ODS
Zlín STAN 24,396 12.69
1 / 45
 Increase 1 Increase 10th ANO–Pirates–ODS–ČSSD
Moravian-Silesian ODS 43,637 13.84
1 / 65
 Increase 1 Increase 7th ANO–ODS+TOP 09–KDU-ČSL–ČSSD

Leaders

Symbols
  • Party logo 2009–2017
    Party logo 2009–2017
  • Party logo 2017–present
    Party logo 2017–present

Notes
  1. Including one member elected as a nominee of Mayors and Independents

References
  1. Zdenka Mansfeldová (2013). "The Czech Republic". In Sten Berglund; Joakim Ekman; Kevin Deegan-Krause; Terje Knutsen (eds.). The Handbook of Political Change in Eastern Europe. Edward Elgar Publishing. p. 232. ISBN 978-1-78254-588-0.
  2. "Členská základna ODS je větší než ČSSD, z mladých uskupení nejvíce roste SPD". ČT24 (in Czech). Česká televize. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  3. Nordsieck, Wolfram (2017). "Czechia". Parties and Elections in Europe.
  4. "Kalousek se střetl s Dolejšem, večerní škola liberalismu stála proti marxismu-leninismu". Novinky.cz. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  5. Maciej Stobinski (2014). "Twenty years of the Czech party system: 1992–2011". In Lucyna Czechowska; Krzysztof Olszewski (eds.). Central Europe on the Threshold of the 21st Century: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Challenges in Politics and Society. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 296. ISBN 978-1-4438-6483-1.
  6. Otto Eibl; Michal Pink (2016). "Election Results, Candidate Lists and the Framing of Campaigns". In Ruxandra Boicu; Silvia Branea; Adriana Stefanel (eds.). Political Communication and European Parliamentary Elections in Times of Crisis: Perspectives from Central and South-Eastern Europe. Palgrave Macmillan UK. p. 258. ISBN 978-1-137-58591-2.
  7. "Křesťanská politika". Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  8. "TOP 09 opouštějí letité tváře, vadí jim liberální plány mladší generace". iDnes.cz (in Czech). 15 April 2017. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
  9. "TOP 09 se dohodla na společné kandidátce s LES Martina Bursíka. Chtějí se poprat o liberální voliče". ihned.cz (in Czech). 12 July 2017. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  10. "Silně konzervativní Chalánkovou vedení TOP 09 odmítlo. Navzdory Kalouskovi". iDnes.cz (in Czech). 12 June 2018. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
  11. Dan Marek; Michael Baun (2010). The Czech Republic and the European Union. Routledge. p. 45. ISBN 978-1-136-94098-9.
  12. "Foreign Policy Centre: Articles and Briefings / Necas in a bind: The Eurozone fiscal compact and the Czech Republic". Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  13. Tom Lansford, ed. (2015). Political Handbook of the World 2015. SAGE Publications. p. 1660. ISBN 978-1-4833-7155-9.
  14. Klausmann, Alexandra (21 May 2010). "Tschechien: Jugend vereint gegen Linksparteien". Wiener Zeitung (in German). Archived from the original on 6 June 2011.
  15. "Schwarzenberg to be Kalousek's Czech TOP 09 party leader". Czech News Agency. 11 June 2009.
  16. "Karel Schwarzenberg", TOP 09 party website, retrieved 7 June 2013
  17. "Official results of election to the Parliament of the Czech Republic 2010". Volby.cz. 29 May 2010. Retrieved 14 April 2011.
  18. Sten Berglund (2013). The Handbook of Political Change in Eastern Europe. Edward Elgar Publishing. pp. 231–232. ISBN 978-1-78254-588-0.
  19. "EPP welcomes European Council conclusions; Roma issue should not be exploited". Epp.eu. 16 September 2010. Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 14 April 2011.
  20. "EPP official website". Epp.eu. Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 14 April 2011.
  21. "TOP 09 členem nejsilnější evropské strany". TOP 09. Retrieved 14 April 2011.
  22. Kopecký, Josef (10 March 2016). "Turečka vyhodili z klubu TOP 09. Politika "Antibabiš" je mi cizí, říká". iDNES.cz. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  23. "TOP 09 leading politician Lukša establishes new party". Prague Monitor. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  24. "Kalousek chce vědět, zda má pokračovat. Jeho TOP 09 ve volbách pohořela". ČT24. Česká televize. Retrieved 12 October 2016.
  25. "Třináctiletka TOP 09 počítá s internetovými volbami i zavedením eura". Novinky.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 29 January 2017.
  26. "TOP 09 slibuje životní úroveň jako v Německu do 2030 a boj za střední třídu". iDNES.cz. 28 January 2017. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
  27. Novotný, Svatopluk. "SPOLEČNÉ TISKOVÉ PROHLÁŠENÍ politických subjektů: Koruna Česká (monarchistická strana Čech, Moravy a Slezska), Konzervativní strana a Klub angažovaných nestraníků - Koruna Česká - monarchistická strana Čech, Moravy a Slezska". Korunaceska.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  28. "Konzervativní strana: Viribus Unitis". Konzervativnistrana.cz. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  29. Roubková, Janetta (26 November 2017). "Nový předseda TOP 09 je Pospíšil, první místopředsedkyní Pekarová. 'Jdeme pracovat na komunálních volbách.'". irozhlas.cz. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
  30. "Navzdory Kalouskovi. Novou předsedkyní TOP 09 je Pekarová Adamová". Novinky.cz. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
  31. "ODS, KDU-ČSL a TOP 09 jdou do voleb jako koalice SPOLU. Daly 17 slibů". Seznamzpravy.cz. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
  32. Kopecký, Josef (20 November 2021). "Pekarová obhájila post šéfky TOP 09. Chce pomoci Bělorusům svrhnout diktárora". iDnes.cz. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  33. Michal Klima (2015). "Czech Republic". In Donatella M. Viola (ed.). Routledge Handbook of European Elections. Routledge. p. 554. ISBN 978-1-317-50363-7.
  34. "Komparace politických stran ODS a TOP 09".
  35. Czech Statistical Office
  36. Aktualne.cz
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