Page:The Czechoslovak Review, vol4, 1920.pdf/328

Through the elections held for the House of Deputies and the Senate of the National Assembly of the Czechoslovak Republic on the 18th and 25th days of April, 1920, respectively, the first elective parliament under the new constitution was chosen. The results of these elections sustained the contention of those who believed that in spite of intensive pre-election party agitation no different political alignment would result materially differing from the results of the municipal elections held last year. In all, 281 deputies were elected of whom 197 were Czechoslovaks and 84 Germans and Magyars. The number of Czechoslovak deputies exceeds a two-third majority; the Germans and Magyars lack 9 mandates to constitute a full one-third membership minority. In the make-up of the House of Deputies there are 145 deputies of the various citizens parties of all nations as against 136 deputies of all socialist parties. Therefore, neither one nor the other bloc is sufficiently strong numerically to take over the government of the republic without regard to the other bloc. A coalition government is again necessary, more particularly in view of the elections to the Senate which do not differ materially from the results in the elections to the House of Deputies.

It is not believed that the elections to the National Assembly strengthened internally the political parties—rather, the opposite is true. The program of tactics of the political parties was always to be in opposition to Vienna or Budapest. The program and tactics were absolutely negative, dictated by the necessities of opposition of Austria-Hungary through oppression of national aspiration of the Czechoslovaks. The overthrow of October 28, 1918 and the creation of an independent Czechoslovak Republic confronted the political parties and their leaders with new political problems, to which they cannot find answers in the present political progress or in past experiences or even in reminiscences gathered from past political actions. The party leaders and their adherents must seek and find answers to questions of internal and external politics, which to them, as responsible instruments of the destiny of the nation, the daily flow of political life constantly presents. It is but natural that the parties and their adherents, whose programs and political experiences are silent on questions propounded by political necessities urgently seek to find proper answers. Within our parties, as well as within the German and the Magyar political parties arise discussions and various points of view are presented which foreshadow that a crisis is at hand in political programs and thoughts which may result in new alignments.

Within the ranks of the Social Democratic party is found the most latent crisis, but even here, as was indicated at a recent convention of its delegates, the discussions point to a crux in its political program. Within the ranks of the majority party standing squarely on its old programs of social democracy there is a small communistic group which falls under the sway of the political influence of Lenine. Therefore it is not strange that discussion centers about the participation of the Social Democrats in the government. The new group denying categorically the right to existence to the existing state, advocates a union of community Soviets and is emphatically against the participation of the labor deputies in the government, while it fathers a dictation by the proletariat and urges a social upheaval. The National Socialists are face to face with a fatal split. The principles of democratic and socialistic political beliefs battle for supremacy. It will either lean to the right or to the left, or it will travel the socialistic road as its labor element desires, or it will go the road of democratic politics, advocated by its old partisans and its intellectuals; but to hereafter serve both masters will be impossible. Nevertheless, this is proven by the results of the elections to the National Assembly.

Within the Agrarian Party the differences between the conservative and progressive elements of farmers have reached a partial split and it is possible that the divergence of interests between the small agriculturists and large farmers will bring about a new crisis. The enlightened conservative element of the Agrarian Party

Translated from “Our Era” (Naše Doba).