"We are not a Czechoslovak party since no Czechoslovakia exists any more.
We are not a union with any political party. I propose a new name - the People's Party," Svoboda, head of the Government Legislative Council, writes on the party's website. His proposal has met with contradictory reactions among the Christian Democrats, HN writes. KDU-CSL chairman Jiri Cunek said such a debate had led nowhere for 15 years. KDU-CSL deputy chairman Marian Hasek pointed out that a change in the party's name would be a sensitive matter, since the current name was firmly established for years. Some Christian Democrats, such as KDU-CSL deputy head David Macek, resolutely oppose the idea. "The current name precisely expresses our stances and Christian traditions," Macek told the paper. HN recalls that current Defence Minister Vlasta Parkanova (KDU-CSL) advocated for a similar change in the party's name ahead of the KDU-CSL congress in 2006, but she failed. Svoboda also points out that the KDU-CSL faces a risk of not crossing the five-percent parliamentary threshold in the next elections without a fundamental reform. "Either we undergo a radical self-reflection and change our policy, or it is only a question of time when we cease being a parliamentary party," Svoboda writes in his proposal on the web, three months after the KDU-CSL congress that tried to modernise the party. Apart from another name, Svoboda proposes other radical changes, for instance, primary polls, in the U.S. spirit, in which even non-party people with the right to vote could participate and run for the party posts if they collected the necessary number of signatures for their nomination, HN says. It adds that Svoboda's proposals would mean "a revolution" in the Czech political parties' functioning. The current KDU-CSL statutes include primary polls, but they are not open to non-party member, Macek recalled. Svoboda's proposal enjoy clear support of Chamber of Deputies and KDU-CSL deputy chairman Jan Kasal, HN writes.
(Ceske Noviny)
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