“For there to be any change for the better, a ruthless counterrevolution is needed at the Ministry of the Environment,” proclaimed Petr Macinka, chairman of the Motorists for Themselves party, in December 2024. He described the ministry as the main obstacle to the Czech Republic’s prosperity.
A few months earlier, the Motorists had surprisingly gained two seats in the European Parliament. However, it was not clear whether this young party would also succeed in the parliamentary elections slated for October 2025. It long hovered around the 5 percent threshold required to enter the Czech Chamber of Deputies.
Nevertheless, Macinka was already confident: the Motorists wanted to rule. His inspiration from the incoming Trump administration was clear. This was a moment when Donald Trump’s then-ally, Elon Musk, was talking up his new unit for government efficiency (which became the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE). Like Musk, the Motorists wanted to use “efficiency” and economic stimulus as a pretext to hobble public institutions that defended the public interest against the interests of a ruthless oligarchy.
In preelection discussions among liberal circles, however, the Motorists and their ideology — culturally conservative, economically strongly right-wing, and markedly climate-skeptical — were not considered the main bogeyman. That role was played primarily by the far-right Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) and the conservative-left Stačilo! (“Enough!”). The then-ruling parties, which espoused a prodemocratic and pro-Ukrainian ethos, portrayed these two parties as the main threat to the Czech Republic’s geopolitical direction, and in the latter case, as bearers of the condemned communist ideology.
There was a widespread discussion at the time about whether either Freedom and Direct Democracy or Stačilo! joining government would lead the Czech Republic out of the European Union. Motorists, meanwhile, presented themselves as the…
Auteur: Klára Votavová
