Does independent Fischer_s victory spell beginning of the end for parties?

The convincing victory of independent candidate Vaclav Fischer has revived debate in the Czech Republic on the role of political parties. At the beginning of 1990s after the fall of Communism, there were those within the Civic Forum movement were sceptical about the role of political parties. There was also much discussion of possible third ways, between capitalism and socialism, sometimes taking up and trying to develop or adapt the legacy of the Socialism with a human face idea which was at the center of the Prague Spring in 1968. Ultimately opinions of those like Vaclav Klaus who argued strongly in favour of creating a party political system on the same model as other democratic states and of a market economy became dominant. Many Czech intellectuals, however, have remained critical of what they see as the over-ideologisation and excess of confrontation in political life in the Czech Republic. Some connect these undesirable features with what they see as an exaggerated role played by political parties which have become over powerful.