Poll: Czech opposition is good at blocking laws, but that's not what people want

A fresh sociological poll has found that the Czech opposition — ODS, STAN, the Pirates, TOP 09 and KDU-ČSL — received average scores of between 3.2 and 3.7 from voters across seven areas of its work (on a Czech school-grading scale, where 1 is best and 5 is worst). Citizens rate the opposition's oversight of the government's activities most favourably: 26% of Czechs gave it a "very good" or "good" mark.

Things look worst precisely where public demand is highest — in exposing corruption and backing useful government initiatives. On uncovering corruption, the opposition scored 3.73, edging close to "unsatisfactory". Views split sharply along political lines: voters of opposition parties gave a score of 2.96, while supporters of the ruling coalition were noticeably harsher, at 4.21.

Blocking laws is what it does best

On supporting worthwhile bills, the opposition earned its second-worst score — 3.71. Blocking legislation, however, is where it performs best: the average mark here was 3.16, the top result across all categories.

According to Tereza Fridrichová, a political analyst at NMS, this may actually be a trap for the opposition. "Czech voters expect the opposition to play a more proactive role — ideally, to cooperate constructively on some government initiatives rather than simply obstruct. That's exactly where the catch may lie for the opposition," she noted.

What voters actually want

According to the same poll, only about a third of Czechs actually want the opposition to block legislation. Even among supporters of opposition parties, it's only slightly over half — hardly an overwhelming majority: for instance, among STAN supporters, 57% favoured this approach.

By contrast, 72% of all citizens expect the opposition to draft its own legislative proposals, and 83% want it to support useful government proposals.

"If, until the next election, the opposition limits itself to a passive, reactive role — blocking and criticising — it won't be doing what most people actually want from it. Without more visible, proactive work, the public will continue to see the opposition more as the government's adversary than as a genuine alternative," the analyst concluded.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz