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Communism still appeals to some young Czechs

22.03.2007

PRAGUE (Reuters) - A generation of Czechs has grown up since the 1989 fall of communism, yet the Marxist ideology is still attracting new blood among those with little experience on how former rulers tried to put it in practice.

"The communist thinking, and the party, certainly attracts me for its positive and humane vision of the future," Zdenek Stefek, the secretary of the Central Council of the Communist Youth Union (KSM), told Reuters.

The bloodless "Velvet Revolution" that overthrew the Soviet-backed Communists and installed dissident playwright Vaclav Havel as president was led by students yearning for a better life and more freedom.

Analysts expected support for the Communist Party to dwindle as their main pillar of support -- seniors hit hard by the change to a free-market economy -- was pushed aside by a younger generation weaned on democracy.

But the Communists remain the third-biggest force in the Czech parliament, as a blend of younger followers such as Stefek breathe new life into party.

The KSM claims about 600 followers, and is one of the most radical of a range of far-left groups professing socialism. Its revolutionary visions prompted a decision by the interior ministry to disband the group, which KSM has appealed.

Sitting in the headquarters of the former ruling Communist Party, where plaques commemorating communism founders Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels adorn the walls in the corridors, Stefek does not look the typical revolutionary.

His short-cropped hair is far from the flowing locks of leftists such as Che Guevara -- or even Engels or Marx -- and the 32-year old has lived more than half of his life in a free- market country that has joined NATO and the European Union.  Continued...

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/gc04/idUSL1315095820070322

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