Last year, for the first time, speculation emerged about a possible merger between the Social Democracy and the Greens. Although both parties showed some willingness to go to the parliamentary elections in the coalition, in the end there was no cooperation. The electoral failure of social democracy, the removal from the Chamber of Deputies and the problems which, after years of the incompetent leadership of Jan Hamáček, manifested themselves fully, but in the end forced the CSSD to a certain self-reflection. Will it be enough?

How to disrupt stagnation?

The current chairman Michal Šmarda politics adequately grasp the current social problems and for a while it seemed that the Social Democrats had completely disappeared from the democratic parties. This is despite the fact that the crisis associated with inflation and rising prices is affecting mainly the less secure part of citizens – that is, in the recent past of a typical Social Democrat voter. As if social democracy can restore contact with them, even though Andrej Babiš does not have any systemic left-wing policy. In reality, he is no longer capable, so he is left with a growl at festivals, promises and riding in a luxury caravan. But even that is “at least something” in the context of the current government’s incomprehensible inaction.

The coalition refers to the tradition of cooperation between the Greens and the Social Democrats in Europe’s most progressive cities.

Leaving the Chamber of Deputies is, of course, accompanied by invisibility and little media interest – and the CSSD is now struggling with both. If she adds much less money to it than she was used to, and with the party mass from the protracted failures, it is quite understandable that the Social Democrats have not been able to get attention lately.

The current campaign for the Prague City Hall is trying to most significantly disrupt stagnation: negotiations have secured a common candidacy for the Prague Greens and Social Democracy and put one of the key figures in Czechoslovak and Czech human rights history, former ombudswoman Anna Šabatová, at the head of the coalition.

Šabatová is connected with Prague mainly as a dissident, she comes from Brno, where part of her public work also appeared. The fact that Šabatová is perceived more as a Brňanka may prove to be a handicap. In Prague, however, Solidarity primarily relies on a contact campaign and a simple visual with a Facebook emoji of care. After all, the topic of supporting carers is one of the pillars of a coalition that defines itself against selfishness. Other points are affordable housing and green and safe Prague.

Following the example of European cities

The coalition refers to the tradition of cooperation between the Greens and the Social Democrats in Europe’s most progressive cities. Among the cities where the group has long succeeded in creating and these maximally progressive policies are mainly Vienna, Paris, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Barcelona and Oslo. Major changes have also taken place in recent years in the Balkans, especially in Croatia. The local elections were dominated by the Možemo movement, the coalition of green and left-wing political parties in the capital Zagreb managed to gain not only a majority in the city council, but also the post of mayor for its candidate, long-term environmental activist Tomislav Tomašević. But to succeed with similar topics in Prague is much more difficult.

Although our capital is plagued by the massive unavailability of housing, the disproportionate and unjust emphasis on car traffic and the effects of the climate crisis, the themes that Solidarity is now coming to see are not to be seen in public. This is also because that part of the political elite has traditionally been associated with the developer and car lobbies, so that common issues such as transport diversity, in the hands of conservative right-wing politicians, become targets of a cultural war full of irrational arguments. The consequences can now be seen by Praguers in Prague 1, for example, where shortly after the opening of the roundabout in the historic city center, residents are watching the construction of parking zones directly below Prague Castle. Western cities, to which the ODS so often refers, deal with the movement of cars in the center very strictly and especially during the coronavirus pandemic with foreign policy and politics decided to take a number of important and radical steps in terms of quality of public space. Only in Prague sometimes it seems that cars have more rights than people.

A city for people

The situation is similar with the problem of housing affordability. This has become one of the most frequently mentioned topics in previous elections. Prague is one of the closest available cities in Europe. In addition to the prices of owner-occupied housing, rental prices are rising and the city also does not have enough municipal flats. This throws the whole group of the city’s inhabitants into a housing shortage. Among the most endangered groups are seniors, as the example of Mrs. Kubešová from Prague 10 shows, others at risk are single women, poorer or young families. At the same time, it has become common advice for those who do not have to move to housing in the capital to move. But these arrogant and insensitive attacks absolutely ignore the fact that a healthy city is just where people from different walks of life can live side by side. In addition, teachers, paramedics, police officers, the working class and those working in the services need the city to ensure its day-to-day running.

Today, however, these people are being pushed out or shrugging alibi over their difficulties. This is despite the fact that the current municipal coalition has set as one of its goals the improvement of housing affordability. However, despite the efforts of a number of councilors, the situation is not improving much, and instead of various types of housing, most brownfields are undergoing mainly luxury construction, which is often purchased only for investment. In addition, we still lack the law on social housing or the debate on the protection of tenants or the greater participation of developers in the construction of social or affordable housing.

It is nice that Solidarity is aware of these issues and that it has decided to fight for them. However, the question remains to what extent the efforts of parties that do not have enough capital and influence will be effective. It can be assumed that a large part of the Social Democrats will repel the connection with the Greens. At the same time, it is precisely social and environmental issues that need to be brought closer together – the climate crisis will have an impact on the more vulnerable and poorer ones and will change the shape of our labor market and all other areas of life, including urban functioning.

Shadows of inability

On both sides – the Social Democracy and the Greens – the shadow of years of failure is constantly clinging. It also often (intentionally) gives the impression that social and environmental policies are at the level of identity politics, that policies for hipsters are disconnected from the rest of society. But it is not so. On the contrary, affordable housing, quality of life in cities, care as a building block of everyday life, transparent political work, the functioning of communities, a policy that cares for the interests of the weaker – these are all areas with a great societal impact.

The emphasis on the universal value of human rights, including social rights, is important in connection with ecology, one pillar of civil society, although the Czech debate has not been very successful so far. We do not know if Solidarity will be able to break down at least symbolically the current view of the “modern” left. It is clear that even some of the party members in the CSSD want the project to fail, and therefore do not have really good starting conditions.

In addition, he would like more vigor, visibility and intelligibility in communication. There are still a few months until the election. What is perhaps the most sympathetic in addition to the thematic definition of Solidarity is the effort to return to a more humane politics without politics. In particular, the Prague CSSD has traditionally been one of the usual suspects, and cleansing from the party’s mafia structures is one of the prerequisites for the continued existence of Democrats. Maybe with an attempt at a different type of policy, some revival process on the traditional left will at least begin. In the shadow of the current scandals around STAN, but probably also TOP 09 and with the knowledge of the history of the “Bémov” and Godfather ODS, the emphasis on authenticity, solidarity and decency is definitely not small.

The author is the editor of the Alarm.