Workers' Party of Social Justice

The Workers' Party of Social Justice (Czech: Dělnická strana sociální spravedlnosti) is a Czech political party, often described as the major far-right extremist party in the Czech Republic. The party is not represented in any legislative body in the Czech Republic and its biggest electoral success so far has been a gain of 1.14% in the Czech legislative election in 2010. Some of the high-ranking party officials, including a Prague party leader, have been associated with neo-Nazi groups such as Národní odpor, the Czech subsidiary of an international militant neo-Nazi group.[9][10] In spring 2009 the petition for the ban on the party was dismissed by the Czech Supreme Administrative Court,[11] because, as the presiding judge stated, the applicant (Czech government) didn't manage to provide sufficient evidence in what was seen as a botched application.[12][13] Following violent attacks against Czech minorities by far-right extremists[14] (such as the Vítkov arson attack of 2009), the government filed a more detailed petition for the ban, which was discussed by the Czech Supreme Court in January and February 2010. The party was banned, making it the first instance of banning a party for its ideology in the modern history of the Czech Republic.[15] The party was transformed into a "Party of Citizens of the Czech Republic"[16] and the party was renamed to Workers' Party of Social Justice. The party's program was kept the same with small adjustments.

Workers' Party of Social Justice
Dělnická strana sociální spravedlnosti
AbbreviationDSSS
LeaderTomáš Vandas
FoundedFebruary 2010
Preceded byWorkers' Party
HeadquartersCiolkovského 853,
161 00 Praha 6
NewspaperWorkers' List
Youth wingWorkers' Youth
Paramilitary wingCivic Guards[1]
Ideology
Political positionFar-right[2]: 3 [3][7][8]
European affiliationAlliance for Peace and Freedom
ColoursBlack, Red, White
Website
www.dsss.cz
DSSS leader, Tomáš Vandas

Ideology and program

The party was formed in 2003 and received less than 1% of the vote in its first election, but shortly afterwards attracted major media attention for organizing riots in quarters of Litvínov with a significant Roma population.[17][18] Afterwards, the party has managed to maintain considerable publicity by organizing a march against homosexuals[19] in Tábor.

The party then started to emphasize a nationalist dimension of its program, mostly seeking to overhaul what they see as a favorable treatment of minorities, and engaged in radically anti-communist rhetoric; on the 20th anniversary of the collapse of Communism in Czechoslovakia, the party leader Tomáš Vandas said: "So what is the state of the society nowadays? In one word: tragic. Communists still govern us."[20]

The party has repeatedly called for the overthrow and subversion of the Czech political system, which the party describes both as "liberal"[21] and "totalitarian".[22] Its official slogan for the 2009 European elections was "Resist the totalitarian regime".

The party's program includes reducing national debt while increasing old age pensions and reducing the retirement age.[23] Some of the more concrete proposals include restrictions on foreign investment, including a total ban on purchases of real estate by foreign nationals[23] and nationalization of certain companies.[24]

The party also wants to restore the death penalty,[24] criminalize "sexual deviation", including homosexuality,[24] abolish registered partnership, reduce rights of criminal defendants[24] and in some cases create new crimes with a retroactive effect.[24] Some of the most controversial proposals include marking of ethnicity in ID cards[25] and giving the police discretion to treat the arrested person inhumanly.[24]

In international affairs, the party opposes NATO and the European Union, and demands that the Czech Republic leave those organizations.[25] The party is strongly anti-American and seems to be pro-Russian,[26] going as far as stating that the Czech Republic must "immediately and strongly restore its relations with Russia"[27] Concerning other matters in international affairs, the chairman of the party arbitration commission congratulated Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran after his victory in the 2009 presidential election.[28]

Election results

European Parliament
Year # of total votes Vote % Seats
2014 7,902 0.52 Increase 0
2019 4,363 0.18 Decrease 0

Czech legislative election
Year # of total votes Vote % Seats
2010 59,888 1.14 (10)Increase 0
2013 42,906 0.86 (12)Decrease 0
2017 10,402 0.20 (16) Decrease 0

References
  1. "DSSS obnovila činnost svých stranických hlídek". ct24.ceskatelevize.cz. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  2. Mareš, Miroslav (2012). "Right-Wing Extremism in the Czech Republic" (PDF). Friedrich Ebert Foundation. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
  3. Lochmannová, Alena; Kolář, Ondřej (2021). Extremism Behind Bars. Pilsen: Západočeská univerzita. p. 83. ISBN 9788026110248.
  4. Cameron, Rob (4 May 2017). "Photo of Czech girl Scout standing up to skinhead goes viral". BBC News. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
  5. Bardovic, Jaroslav; Mihalik, Jakub (2019). Migration: The Challenge of European States. Stuttgart: ibidem. p. 138. ISBN 9783838213446.
  6. Rosenfeld, Alvin H. (2019). Anti-Zionism and Antisemitism: The Dynamics of Delegitimization. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. p. 425. ISBN 9780253038722.
  7. Lansford, Tom (2015). Political Handbook of the World 2015. New York City: CQ Press. ISBN 9781483371559. Originally formed as the Worker's Party, a far-right grouping led by Tomaše VANDASE
  8. Deland, Mats; Minkenberg, Michael; Mays, Christin (2014). In the Tracks of Breivik: Far Right Networks in Northern and Eastern Europe. Münster: LIT Verlag. p. 79. ISBN 9783643905420.
  9. . Workers' Party election candidates and Nazi symbols (only in Czech, with photographs)
  10. . Workers' Party has been taken over by neo-Nazis (only in Czech)
  11. . Supreme administrative court judgment, 4.3.2009 (only in Czech)
  12. . Top court rejects government's petition to ban extremist Workers' Party
  13. . (only in Czech)
  14. . Czech Police arrested extremist leaders over Vítkov arson
  15. "Soud zrušil Dělnickou stranu. Chtěla rozvrátit stát - Aktuálně.cz". 17 February 2010.
  16. "Zakázaná Dělnická strana půjde do voleb, jen pod jinou hlavičkou - Domov". Lidovky.cz. 20 February 2010.
  17. . Litvinov has seen a rough fight with the extremists, 15 injured. (only in Czech)
  18. . Journalist injured while covering rally
  19. . Saturday in Tabor: both gays and extremists (only in Czech)
  20. . Speech of the party chairman, November 17, 2009 (only in Czech)
  21. . Workers news: "Let's clean up our own country". (Official party newspaper, only in Czech)
  22. . Workers news: "Vandas: The post-November regime has discredited itself". (Official party newspaper, only in Czech)
  23. . Party program, article III
  24. . Party program, article II
  25. . Party program, article I
  26. . Workers news: "Nobody really wants a change?" (Official party newspaper, only in Czech)
  27. . Workers news: "Confession of a patriot and a good son of the Homeland" (Official party newspaper, only in Czech)
  28. . Workers news: "Who do you want to lecture?" (Official party newspaper, only in Czech)
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