ČTK

Czech Republic Opens Coffers – Doles out CZK500 Million Election Subsidy to Parties

Prague, Nov 28 (CTK) – The ten parties and movements that fared the best of all in the October 20-21 general election, are to receive a total of 482 million crowns worth a state subsidy to help them cover their election costs, according to a resolution the Chamber of Deputies passed today.

 

The subsidy goes to the entities that crossed 1.5-percent of the vote. It goes to the nine parties that gained more than 5 percent and entered the Chamber of Deputies, and to the extra-parliamentary Party of Free Citizens, which gained 1.6 percent.

 

In addition, the nine parties in parliament will get an annual subsidy for their activities and a subsidy their deputies’ mandates, which is 900,000 crowns for each mandate a year.

 

The largest sum for the election gain, over 150 million crowns, goes to the election-winning ANO movement, compared with 92.7 million it received after the previous elections in 2013.

 

The Civic Democrats (ODS) will receive 57.3 million, up from the previous 38.4.

 

A total of 54.6 million will go to the Pirates (13.2 million in 2013), and 53.9 million to the Freedom and Democracy (SPD) movement, which did not run in the previous polls.

 

The Communists (KSCM) will see its subsidy for the election gain decline to 39.3 million crowns from 74.1 million in 2013.

 

The Social Democrats (CSSD) will see an especially sharp decline, to 36.8 million from the previous 101.7 million.

 

The subsidy for the Christian Democrats’ (KDU-CSL) will be 29.4 million crowns, down from the previous 33.7 million.

 

TOP 09 will receive 26.9 million crowns, compared with 59.6 million four years ago.

 

The Mayors and Independents (STAN), who ran on TOP 09’s lists of candidates in 2013, will receive 26.2 million crowns.

 

The Free Citizens’ Party will receive 7.9 million compared with 12.3 million in 2013.

 

The Greens and the Party of Citizens’ Rights (SPO), which received a subsidy for the election gain in 2013, remained below the 1.5-percent limit this time and are not eligible for the subsidy.

 

Another subsidy, designed to support parties’ activity, goes to parties with the election gain of 3 percent at least.

 

This subsidy will go to all nine parties in the new Chamber of Deputies. Each of them will receive 10 million crowns a year.

 

Within the third subsidy, which parties receive for their mandates in the 200-seat lower house, ANO (78 seats) will receive 70.2 million crowns a year (compared with 42.3 million in the previous term).

 

An annual 22.5 million will go to the ODS (previously 14.4 million).

 

The newcomers Pirates and the SPD will receive 19.8 million each.

 

The KSCM will get 13.5 million a year, compared with 29.7 million in the past four years.

 

The CSSD will also get 13.5 million, a decline from the previous 45 million.

 

The KDU-CSL will receive nine million crowns, instead of previous 12.6 million and TOP 09 6.3 million instead of previous 23.4 million. STAN will receive 5.4 million crowns worth the annual subsidy for its lower house mandates.