1. Was your association involved in the European elections campaign of your party?

Yes, our organization was involved in favor of the KDU-ČSL (Christian Democratic Party/Czechoslovak People Party). Our members were giving support to the list of its candidates. It was up to any SKS member to give his priority voting to candidates with the real personal Christian and European orientation and her/ his personal integrity. Finally the KDU-ČSL party has won only two seats in the new EP, i.e. 1 seat less than in the previous elections to the EU Parliament, however KDU-ČSL won more voices than previously. The final position was gained by Tomáš Zdechovský and Michaela Šojdrová (who both served already in the previous EU Parliament). The total participation in the elections in the Czech republic was about 28,7%.
Several members of the SKS Presidium took part in the final pre-election days serving at the call-up centre of the party, for contacting individually members of both SKS and KDU-ČSL. Our members did very intensively the person to person in proximity.
 
 

2. Did you have a senior’s candidate’ on the list of your party?

There was not any senior candidate, all candidates were under 60 years age.
 

3. Did your association take own initiatives in the elections campaign?

The SKS organized a lot of concrete actions. We took into consideration that the campaign should start at least one year before the election, it would be very bad to rely only on actions shortly before elections.

• Meetings with the KDU-ČSL euro-candidates, the open discussion with them
• Participation in the Christian media (never invited to the state media) - Proglas radio and the newspaper Katolický týdeník – SKS website - www.krestanstiseniori.cz
• Presidium and EXCO ESU meeting in February 2019 in Prague with the participation of the KDU-CSL and SKS members and media
• Extension of the ESU material and statement for EU election, information and cooperation with the KDU-ČSL party representation
• Information to other NGOs

4. In hindsight, which assistance would be feasible to support your campaign? What role could the ESU play?

The ESU should play the leading informative role vis-a-vis to the national senior organizations. We are proposing that the top representatives of the ESU should come to the Czech republic to meet the KDU-ČSL and SKS members and to be presented in the Czech media. It is necessary to speak more about the social aspect in EU, best practices, the role of the seniors in society etc.
The basic ESU documents should be published in the Czech language for distribution.