KSČM holds congress

The main topic of the congress was the assessment of the recent period for the party, following the 2025 parliamentary elections. The KSČM-led coalition "Stačilo!" ("Enough!") received 4.3% of the vote and could not win any seats in the Chamber of Deputies.

According to Freie Linke Zukunft Nachrichten, Katerina Konečná, who had led the party since 2021, had previously announced that she would not seek re-election. In her speech at the party congress, she declared that the party had survived as a political force despite the defeats. 

Roman Roun won the second round of the leadership election with 94 delegate votes to 82 votes for deputy party leader Milan Krajča. Besides Roun and Krajča, former KSČM MP Leo Luzar, the chairwoman of the Prague KSČM committee Petra Prokshanova (who withdrew her candidacy in favor of Milan Krajča), and Petr Bureš, the Ústí region representative and creator of the YouTube channel TV Bureš, also ran for the chairmanship.

Milan Krajča spoke of the need to preserve the party's clear communist identity, continue its anti-militarist policies, and counter growing anti-communism. Roman Roun openly admitted that the CPCM was in a deep crisis and that a segment of the public no longer understood the party. He spoke of the need for more modern means of communication, a return to the workers, more effective leadership, and organizational changes within the party.

Despite his defeat in the election for party chairman, Krajča was elected deputy chairman and thus retained his position. Petr Šimunek was re-elected as first deputy chairman.

Roman Roun, 54, had headed the party's press service since 2022. In 2025, he led the regional electoral list of the "Stačilo!" coalition in the Pardubice region. 

After his election as chairman of the Central Committee, Roun emphasized that despite growing political pressure and recent changes to the Czech penal code that introduced criminal liability for promoting communism, the party did not intend to change its rhetoric and would continue to openly advocate its views. "We are communists, and we are proud of it," he said.

He also stated his intention to restore the party to its status as the strongest left-wing force in the country. According to Roun, the KSČM will remain an independent party, but will continue to seek alliances with "left-wing and patriotic forces," including within the framework of the "Stačilo!" coalition, and prepare for the upcoming municipal and parliamentary elections to bring the communists back into the Chamber of Deputies.