KDU-ČSL

KDU-ČSL (In Czech, the initials of the '''Christian and Democratic Union – Czechoslovak People's Party; ), often shortened to ''' ("the populars"), is a Christian democratic political party in the Czech Republic, led by Marek Výborný. The party has taken part in most of the Czech government coalitions since 1990, and has been represented in every parliament except for the 6th Czech parliament (2010–2013). It currently forms part of the parliamentary opposition, having been elected on the lists of the Spolu electoral alliance.

==History== After the collapse of the Habsburg monarchy, the dissolution of Austria-Hungary, and the formation of the First Czechoslovak Republic, Jan Šrámek helped unite a number of Catholic political parties to create the Czechoslovak People's Party (ČSL) in 1919. The party remained continuously active throughout the twentieth century. After the German occupation of Czechoslovakia, Šrámek served as head of the Czechoslovak government in exile in the United Kingdom. After 1945, ČSL was part of the national unity government, forming its most right-wing section. It was one of many parties brought together in the National Front, which was initially a tripartisme-style coalition meant to drive out the Nazis, but was permanently used by the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ) to control political and social activities in the country, especially after the 1948 Czechoslovak coup d'etat.