Anarchistická federace

Anti-municipal election campaign in CZ

The beginning of October was marked by municipal elections and elections for one third of the Senate seats in the Czech Republic. Local issues suddenly became important for the ruling class and the streets became filled by their propaganda. In response, the Czechoslovak Anarchist Federation (CSAF), in cooperation with free community Voice of Anarchopacifism (VAP), called for a boycott of these elections and destruction of pre-election propaganda.

Pre-election propaganda is traditionally full of meaningless slogans and retouched faces, similar to thousands of ads around, trying to sell us useless merchandise. Candidates usually come from the local oligarchy or big parliamentary parties. In excluded regions, candidates try to make a career for themselves to the detriment of socially excluded people, even if they come from some kind of “socialist” party.

On this occasion, CSAF published a series of posters, which contained slogans like: “Bourgeois Democracy: Choose who will rob you over the coming years!”, “Vote for nobody! Nobody will keep election promises. Nobody will listen to your opinion. Nobody will help the poor. Nobody cares about you or your family. Nobody tells the truth.”, and “Elections are swindle! Where the money rules, ballots do not work.” Stickers were also published containing slogans: “Canceled (elections won´t change anything)”, “Canceled (too many suckers on the ballots)”, and “Canceled (so people can decide themselves about their lives)." We published a new issue of bulletin Zdola! (From Below!), concerning the headline municipal elections, but also about a new 'Civil code' and the riots in Ferguson. Most of this was distributed during a DIY carnival in Prague. Finally, the October issue of our “wallpaper” A3 sheet was dedicated to “criminalization of poverty” in connection with the elections.

Hundreds of political posters and billboards were defaced or destroyed, specially in Prague, Brno and Hradec Králové. An anarchist flag with the motto “If elections changed anything, they would be banned” was hanged out in Ostrava. Small towns were not spared with angry non-voters expressing their mood, for the most part, in middle and east Bohemia.

Municipal voter turnout reached 44.46%. That is a typical figure which shows the illegitimacy of this system, but also the passivity of society at large, who wallow in consumer entertainment. Senate voter turnout was only 16.69%.

Municipal elections are usually dominated by “independent associations”, which in reality means the local entrepreneurial elite or politicians who want hide their origins and corrupt pasts. This year wasn´t an exception. “Independents” got most of the mandates. What was surprising, was the success of Christian Democrats in villages and small towns, because this party is connected to a strange system of restitutions that are paid by the state to churches. This system was ratified by a former government and it´s generally hated amongst mostly atheist ordinary people.

Big towns including Prague were seized by the political party of billionaire Andrej Babiš. His party was formed in 2012 and had already gained the second highest amount of mandates in their first parliamentary elections (2013). Babiš is a former prominent Bolshevik who isn´t able to prove where he got the initial capital for his businesses. Nowadays he owns one third of the agro-industry and many affiliated businesses. Two years ago he entered the media industry and seized a few of the most read internet news sites. His agenda is unpredictable, neither right nor left but shaped by his commercial nature.

Senate does not have a good reputation of bourgeois democracy either. For example, seats were gained by billionaire Jiří Hlavatý, who successfully changed his political orientation after the fall of the Bolshevik regime and seized the biggest textile factory in region. Another new senator Ivo Valenta is a full-blown bastard, well known for his backhander deals, doing business at the edge of the law and transferring public property into tax havens.

We can only hope that we will overthrow all these gentleman and ladies in the near future and let them live the poor, boring everyday lives that we do. But for that, anarchists on their own won´t be enough, and all those who suffer under the dominion of these eminent people will have to get involved.

Praha
Praha

Praha

Praha

Brno
Brno

Hradec Králové
Hradec Králové

Hradec Králové

Ústí nad Orlicí
Ústí nad Orlicí

Ústí nad Orlicí

Verze pro tisk 31.10.2014 CSAF

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IFA/IAF - Internacionála anarchistických federací
Web Nakladatelstvi Anarchistické federace

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