Prague, Feb 27 (CTK) – Czech Communist (KSCM) leader Vojtech Filip has decided to seek re-election at the April party congress, having changed his mind as he said before he would not run again, Czech Television (CT) tweeted on Tuesday.
The Communists only received 7.8 percent of the vote in the October 2017 election to the Chamber of Deputies, which was their worst result in history.
Due to the setback, the party then decided to call the congress for this April, where the new party leadership will be elected.
After the discussion of the Communist central committee, analysing the causes of the defeat, Filip announced he would not run again.
He said he was the longest-serving party leader and an exchange could be beneficial.
Filip, considered a pragmatist, was elected to the post of party leader after the resignation of his predecessor, Miroslav Grebenicek, who headed the KSCM between June 1993 and October 2005.
The party was most successful in the 2002 election to the Chamber of Deputies, when it gained 41 seats in the 200-member lower house.
