1986 Czechoslovak parliamentary election

1986 Czechoslovak parliamentary election

←  1981 23–24 May 1986 1990  →
All 200 seats in the House of the People All 150 seats in the House of Nations
Turnout	99.40%
Majority party   Leader Gustáv Husák Party KSČ Alliance National Front Seats after 241 Seat change 1
Prime Minister before election Lubomír Štrougal KSČ Elected Prime Minister Lubomír Štrougal KSČ

Parliamentary elections were held in Czechoslovakia on 23 and 24 May 1986. ^[1] The National Front put forward a single list of candidates for both the House of the People (the lower house) and the House of Nations (the upper house) and one NF candidate ran in each single member constituency. ^[2] With a total of 350 seats in the two Houses, 242 were assigned to the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, 18 to the Czechoslovak People's Party, 18 to the Czechoslovak Socialist Party, four to the Party of Slovak Revival, four to the Freedom Party and 64 to independents. ^[1] Voter turnout was reported to be 99.39%. ^[1]

Like the other elections of the Communist era, the result was a foregone conclusion. People were afraid not to vote, and when they did so, those who entered a voting booth to modify their ballot paper could expect to be persecuted by the state. ^[3]

Results

House of the People

Party or alliance				Votes	%	Seats
	National Front		Communist Party of Czechoslovakia	10,871,881	99.4	138
			Czechoslovak People's Party			11
			Czechoslovak Socialist Party			11
			Party of Slovak Revival			2
			Freedom Party			2
			Independents			36
Against					0.6	–
Total						200
Total votes				10,884,947	–
Registered voters/turnout				10,950,675	99.40
Source: , [4] IPU, CZSO

House of Nations

Party or alliance				Votes	%	Seats
	National Front		Communist Party of Czechoslovakia			103
			Czechoslovak People's Party			7
			Czechoslovak Socialist Party			7
			Party of Slovak Revival			2
			Freedom Party			2
			Independents			29
Total						150
Total votes				10,884,947	–
Registered voters/turnout				10,950,675	99.40
Source: , [5] IPU, CZSO

1989–1990 co-options

Following the Velvet Revolution of November 1989 that overthrew the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia, the Federal Assembly passed a new law empowering itself to fill vacant seats through co-option. This was used to elect members of newly formed democratic parties and organizations in place of resigning hardline Communists and other supporters of the old regime, ahead of the free elections scheduled for June 1990. The process took place in three waves, on 28 December 1989, 30 January 1990 and then 27 February 1990. The process mirrored the removal of reform Communists from the Assembly in favor of hardline ones in 1969 after the crushing of the Prague Spring. Its main architect Zdeněk Jičínský, a former dissident and Prague Spring figure who had himself been a victim of such co-optation, likely intended it as retribution. ^[6]

Party		Seats
		House of the People	House of Nations
	Communist Party of Czechoslovakia	77	64
	Civic Forum	40	22
	Public Against Violence	20	16
	Czechoslovak People's Party	11	7
	Czechoslovak Socialist Party	11	7
	Christian Democratic Movement	2	1
	Christian Democratic Party	2	0
	Czech Social Democratic Party	2	1
	Green Party	2	1
	Democratic Party	2	2
	Czechoslovak Democratic Initiative	2	0
	Freedom Party	2	3
	Coexistence	0	1
	Independents	27	26
Total		200	151

References

1. Czechoslovakia Inter-Parliamentary Union
2. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p465 ISBN   978-3-8329-5609-7
3. Nohlen & Stöver, p457
4. "Federální shromáždění ČSSR/ČSFR - Sněmovna lidu (24. 5. 1986 — 9. 6. 1990 )". databazeposlancu.cz. Retrieved 14 November 2024.
5. "Federální shromáždění ČSSR/ČSFR - Sněmovna národů (24. 5. 1986 — 9. 6. 1990 )". databazeposlancu.cz. Retrieved 14 November 2024.
6. Hvížďala, Karel (19 December 2007). "POLITIKA: Česko a volby prezidentů" . Retrieved 2 December 2025.