The Four-Coalition ( Czech : Čtyřkoalice ), also translated as the Coalition of Four or Quad-Coalition , abbreviated to 4K , was a liberal centre-right political alliance in the Czech Republic between 1998 and 2002.
8-588: The four member parties were: The 4K was formed after the Opposition Agreement between the Czech Social Democratic Party and Civic Democratic Party (ODS), in the aftermath of the 1998 legislative election . The coalition said it aimed to provide 'real opposition' to the government. The parties first participated together in the 1998 Senate election , winning 13 of the 27 seats up for election. The coalition formalised and centralised, with
16-680: A narrow victory for ČSSD. The coalition negotiations were unsuccessful, as the Freedom Union refused to enter a coalition with ČSSD, while ODS refused to enter a coalition with the Freedom Union, due to their "betrayal". Instead, the leaders of ODS and ČSSD (Klaus and Miloš Zeman ) decided to make a deal. The "Treaty on creating a stable political environment in Czech Republic" ( Czech : Smlouva o vytvoření stabilního politického prostředí v České republice ), more commonly known as "the opposition agreement" ( Czech : Opoziční smlouva ) established
24-403: A set of rules for the winning party and the second party. Both parties pledged to: The two parties also reached an agreement on changing the electoral system to benefit parties with the most votes — themselves at the time — by making constituencies smaller and changing the allocation formula. The new law would have almost destroyed the opposition and given the two parties nearly all the seats in
32-497: The 1998 legislative election. It was criticised by many journalists and politicians who blamed it for a rise in corruption. Many commentators also considered it to be a de facto coalition agreement. On the other hand, supporters say that it helped to stabilise the political situation in the country. Václav Klaus's second government collapsed due to an internal crisis within ODS, the largest coalition party, related to unclear financing of
40-465: The Czech Republic, the Czech Social Democratic Party (ČSSD) and the Civic Democratic Party (ODS). ČSSD was allowed to govern alone while ODS received a number of parliamentary posts and the two parties together adopted several constitutional amendments. It was signed by Miloš Zeman and Václav Klaus on 8 July 1998. The agreement was signed as a result of problematic coalition talks after
48-501: The Four-Coalition as a result. In the 2002 legislative election , KDU–ČSL and US-DEU ran on a looser joint ticket called Coalition ( Koalice ), and won 31 seats with 14% of the vote—down from the combined 39 seats and 19% of votes in the 1998 election. Places are by number of votes gained. Opposition Agreement The Opposition Agreement ( Czech : Opoziční smlouva ) was a political agreement between two major parties in
56-572: The merger of US and DEU to form the Freedom Union – Democratic Union (US-DEU) reducing the number of parties to three. However, the overbearing size of the KDU–ČSL – significantly larger than the others – lent instability to the coalition, as KDU–ČSL members used the coalition to promote their intra-party factions. KDU–ČSL put pressure on ODA to consolidate further, either reforming its long-standing debts or merging with US-DEU. ODA refused, and withdrew from
64-576: The party, and the subsequent withdrawal of the Civic Democratic Alliance (ODA) and KDU-ČSL from the coalition. A snap election was scheduled on 19 and 20 June 1998. Some members of ODS left the party and formed the Freedom Union , while the rest remained loyal to Klaus. The event was named the "Sarajevo assassination" by supporters of Klaus, as Klaus was in Sarajevo at the time of the attempted takeover. The 1998 legislative election ended with
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