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Party seeks to
restore monarchy: Koruna Ćeská would rebuild the ancient Czech Kingdom
“Former Prime Minister Miloš Zeman called them “one of
the parties that could fit in an elevator.” Social Democrat Party Chairman JiÅ™í
Paroubek once referred to them as “not even small fish, but plankton.”
The
members of Koruna ÄŒeská, a national party that wants to transform the
government into a constitutional monarchy, are used to condescendence. But,
with between 400 and 500 members and government representation in four
municipalities, Koruna ÄŒeská is not just some farcical movement.
“We’re not
satirists, and we’re not some virtual party,” says party Chairman Václav Srb.
“We’re simply the political embodiment of a movement to reunify the historic
territories of Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia under the Czech crown.”
Today, the
crown jewels of the old Czech kingdom are locked away by seven keys, asleep in
a secured chamber within the St. Vitus Cathedral. But if Srb and his fellow
party members have their way, the storied St. Václav crown — the very same
headpiece conceived by Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV in the 14th century —
would once again adorn the head of a Czech monarch.
... Return of the king. Instead of its current republican form, which
he calls “unsettled” and “artificial,” Srb and his fellow monarchists would
strengthen the political integrity of the state by restoring the traditions of
the Czech kingdom. To do this, it would be essential to replace the current
presidential institution with a royal one. Aside from Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk,
the venerated founding father of the Czechoslovak republic, “an overwhelming
majority of our presidents have been either outwardly criminal or pitiful,” Srb
says, whereas locals continue to refer to Charles IV as the “most revered Czech
persona.”
Unlike the president, who is elected to his post, the king would be
groomed for his reign since childhood, which would raise respect for his
position and elevate him above politics, Srb says.
Apart from gaining national
support for their reforms, the monarchists face the obvious challenge of
finding a luminary who would be able and willing to take the crown. According
to Srb, the most obvious choice would be former European Parliament
representative Otto von Habsburg. As the eldest son of the last
Austro-Hungarian emperor Charles, the 95-year-old crown prince of Austria is
the heir to the Czech throne. But, because the Habsburg dynasty was for decades
demonized by local republicans, “it’s understandable that this dynasty isn’t
the right one at the moment,” Srb says.
An alternate solution is to turn to
foreign ruling dynasties. “I say, if not the Habsburgs, then anyone —let’s not
be Eurocentric,” says Srb, whose own provocative suggestion is Norodom
Sihamini, the current king of Cambodia. “His father stowed him away here during
Cambodia’s period of upheaval … he is the only currently ruling monarch in the
world who is fluent in Czech.”...”
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