strana národně sociální). 1997: After failure in 1996 elections, the Free Democrats left the party and in 1998 formed the Party for the Open Society (Strana pro otevřenou společnost). Civic Democratic Alliance 1991: At the fracturing of the general democratic Civic Forum (Občanské fórum) the conservative and liberal right wing faction Civic Democratic Alliance (Občanská demokratická alliance) established itself as a separate party. After being quite influential during the early 1990s (over 5% of voters, participated in government) the party gradually declined. It no longer plays any role in Czech politics. Some regional factions formed new liberal parties in the second half of the 1990s: Liberal Reform Party (Liberální reformní strana) in South Moravian Region (in Brno), Vote for the City (Volba pro město) in Hradec Králové Region, Some members in Liberec Region left party and entered the ⇒ Party for Open Society. Freedom Union 1998: A breakaway group of the Civic Democratic Party established the liberal Freedom Union (Unie Svobody). 2001: The party merged with the Democratic Union (Demokratická unie) into the Freedom Union – Democratic Union (Unie Svobody - Demokratická unie, US-DEU) The influence and membership of the party declined and in the 2006 parliamentary elections it obtained only 0.3% of the vote. Liberal leaders National Liberal Party: Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk (1850–1937), but he strictly rejected the label "liberal". National Social Party: Edvard Beneš Free Democrats: Jiří Dienstbier (party is defunct) Freedom Union: Jan Ruml, Hana Marvanová (no longer a member) Liberal Reform Party: Milan Hamersky (leader of an extremely tiny party) Liberal thinkers In the contributions to liberal theory the following Czech thinkers are included: Karel Havlíček Borovský (1821–1856), a Czech liberal journalist Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk (1850–1937), but he strictly rejected being counted as a liberal. Josef Kaizl (1854–1901) See also History of the Czech Republic Politics of the Czech Republic List of political parties in the Czech Republic Czech republic Politics of the Czech Republic