From 21 May 2018 to 14 June 2018 the Czech Social Democratic Party (ÃÂSSD) held a referendum to determine whether it should join the minority government of Andrej Babià ¡ with potential confidence and supply from the Communist Party.
17,683 party members were eligible to vote and the referendum was deemed to be valid if the turnout reached at least 25%. A decision not to join the government would possibly trigger a snap election.
ÃÂSSD won the 2013 legislative election with 20% of the vote and formed a coalition government with ANO 2011 and Christian and Democratic Union â Czechoslovak People's Party. Support for ÃÂSSD fell during its time in government. The party suffered heavy losses in the 2017 election and finished in sixth place with 7% of the vote. In a subsequent leadership election, the main issue was whether ÃÂSSD should join the new coalition government or be in opposition. Milan Chovanec argued that the party should be in opposition, while Jan HamáÃÂek and Jià ÂàZimola supported joining the coalition. Chovanec was eliminated in the first round of voting. HamáÃÂek then defeated Zimola and became the new leader, and started negotiations with ANO 2011. Zimola became deputy leader. The new cabinet of ANO 2011 and ÃÂSSD would be supported by the Communist Party.
Former Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka expressed his opposition to joining the coalition, saying that the previous coalition with ANO damaged ÃÂSSD. He also expressed the view that, as ANO 2011 was already working with the Communists and the far-right Freedom and Direct Democracy, he only needed ÃÂSSD to legitimise his government. Sobotka eventually decided to leave politics, citing his opposition to coalition talks with ANO.
HamáÃÂek demanded 5 seats for ÃÂSSD in the new cabinet, including the Interior Minister and Justice Minister roles. Babià ¡ offered the party only four cabinet positions, and refused to give ÃÂSSD the Ministry of the Interior. HamáÃÂek announced on 27 March 2018 that the party would hold a referendum of the membership to decide whether the party would be part of the coalition.
ÃÂSSD persisted in its demands and suggested that it could walk away from coalition talks. Babià ¡ eventually agreed to give ÃÂSSD five seats, but refused to give up Ministry of the Interior. ÃÂSSD then ended the coalition talks.
Babià ¡ then stated that a coalition of ANO, Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) and the Communists was the only option remaining. However, ANO announced on 13 April 2018 that it would recommence talks with ÃÂSSD. The Social Democrats agreed to continue with coalition talks when ANO agreed to give ÃÂSSD five seats including the Ministry of the Interior, though the final decision would still be decided in a referendum.
Coalition talks concluded on 7 May 2018, with HamáÃÂek and Babià ¡ finalising the coalition agreement. ANO ratified the deal on 11 May 2018. ÃÂSSD announced that members of the party would vote on the agreement between 21 May and 14 June 2018.
The voting took place at meetings of the party's local branches, with voting being deemed valid if the turnout was at least 25%. If the turnout was less than 25%, then the Central Executive Committee of ÃÂSSD would decide whether the party joined the government. Branch meetings could allow voting only if 40% of members were present at the meeting. If the quorum was not met then voting would not take place and members of the organisation could not participate in the referendum.
ÃÂSSD Senators, led by Milan à  tÃÂch, expressed their opposition to ÃÂSSD participation in the new government on 25 April 2018. à  tÃÂch noted that ÃÂSSD had promised not to participate in a government led by someone facing criminal charges. à  tÃÂch also announced that opponents of the coalition would campaign against ratification of the coalition agreement. Jià ÂàZimola criticised the Senators, saying they had misused their media attention.
Party leader Jan HamáÃÂek originally refused to publish the names of the potential ÃÂSSD ministers. Many prominent party members wanted to know the names of future ministers before voting. The party leadership eventually agreed to publish the names of the ministers before the referendum, and they did so on 18 May 2018.
HamáÃÂek started the campaign on 14 May 2018 with a visit to the local party in Liberec. He then visited Pardubice, Hradec Králové, Jihlava and Teplice. HamáÃÂek stated that both sides had a lot of support within the party. Jià ÂàZimola also started campaigning in favour of the coalition agreement. Roman Onderka visited some Moravian regions but did not endorse either side. Opponents of the coalition plans also started campaigning. HamáÃÂek stated that he was not trying to convince members to vote to join the government, but to inform them about the agreement with ANO 2011. HamáÃÂek met members of the Prague branch on 16 May 2018, and subsequently stated that the majority of ÃÂSSD members in Prague supported participation in the new government.
ÃÂSSD senators led by Milan à  tÃÂch started sending letters to ÃÂSSD members on 18 May 2018. They warned against participation in a government led by Andrej Babià ¡ and argued that previous cooperation with Andrej Babià ¡ had led the party to be marginalised. The ÃÂstànad Labem regional branch expressed its opposition to ÃÂSSD participation in the new government. The Plzeà  regional branch also recommended that its members oppose participation in the government. However, the Central Bohemian branch expressed support for joining the government.
Both campaign went quiet towards the end of the referendum. In the end 60% of members voted in favour of joining the government.
Voting began on 20 May 2018. 37 of 46 ÃÂSSD members in Dejvice participated in referendum. 29 voted for participation in the government while eight voted against. The BohumÃÂn branch voted against participation. 16% of ÃÂSSD members in BohumÃÂn voted for participation. Voting in Opava and Orlová was close, but a majority voted against participation.
One third of the party's branches had voted by 25 February 2018. Turnout was around 70%. Prague, Central Bohemia, Pardubice and South Bohemian regions voted in support of government participation. It was reported on 28 May 2018 that 70% of voters supported government participation. It was reported on 31 May 2018 that 59.5% of voters had supported government participation so far. By 11 June 2018, 85% of party's organisations had voted. Lidové noviny reported that 60% of voters had supported government participation while 40% voted against.
Voting concluded on 14 June 2018, with 58.5% having voted in favour and 40.2% against. The official result was published on 15 June 2018.