The leading Czech political parties' popularity is decreasing, indicating rising disappointment with the political elite. This trend signifies increasing demand for politicians who are new, or have previously remained in the background. If parties can supply suitable alternatives to the current elite, party preferences may change fast.

 

TOP09 is a good example of a new political party that has quickly gained ground, the latest opinion poll by CVVM shows. So is Věci veřejné (Public Affairs), a hitherto unkown party led by screenwriter Radek John that has suddenly shot up to 6 percent among decided, sure-to-turn-out voters in the space of a few months, Public Affairs' main agenda is to introduce "direct democracy," where citizens can exercise greater control over politicians through referendums. The party beats both the Green Party and the Christian and Democratic Union - Czechoslovak People's Party (KDU- ČSL) in the poll.  Public Affairs and TOP09 together carve out an 18 % share of dedicated voters - mostly to the disadvantage of the ODS.