A leadership election was held within the Czech Social Democratic Party (ČSSD) on 25 March 1990. It was the first leadership election since the party's re-establishment and saw Jiří Horák defeat Rudolf Battěk.[1] Battěk was supported by exiled politicians from the party,[2] and wanted ČSSD to run in the 1990 parliamentary elections as part of the Civic Forum list, while Horák wanted it the party to run independently.[3]
Although Horák won, Battěk's wing of the party participated in 1990 elections on the Civic Forum list and won some seats. The ČSSD received only 4% of the vote and failed to cross the electoral threshold. Horák blamed Battěk's wing for the failure and Battěk and his supporters were expelled from the party.[4]
