Chris Bowlby

They may have won only just under 7% of the national vote, but thanks to the coalition needs of Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, the motorists now wield governmental power. Journalist Marketa Bubinova has watched their rise.

Such parties like to see themselves as disruptors, and the motorists prompted a constitutional row recently when the Czech president refused to accept Filip Turek as environment minister due to social media pronouncements and behavior seen as xenophobic and unacceptable. Turek called the allegations absurd. He's now an outspoken advisor to the ministry. Good condition of the European automotive industry is an economic priority for us. It employs hundreds of thousands of people in the Czech Republic.

Meanwhile party chairman Petr Matsinka, whose Czech foreign minister has been defending petrol cars against what he sees as an EU plot to force their abolition. The current Czech government is categorically opposed to regulations that would effectively end the safe of new vehicles with combustion engines. That kind of policy, says Marketa Bobinova, plays especially well with young men.

That's certainly what we found. Our repeated requests for an interview with the motorists about even their most basic policies were rejected. Eventually we were told that only Mr Matsinka could answer such questions, and he was too busy.

We headed out in search of motorist supporters. They're great, said one man, but hurried away from our microphone and wouldn't talk. Others seemed less keen, but acknowledged the party's impact. Were you surprised they did well, got into the government?

Olin hieman yllättynyt. En olisi odottanut heitä olemaan parlamentissa. Kuka valitsee heitä? Tiedätkö ihmisiä, jotka valitsevat heitä? Itse asiassa minä valitsen heitä. Olin melko syvällä siitä. Oletko keskustellut niiden kanssa? Mitä he sanoivat? He ajattelivat, että he voisivat olla saavutuksia eurooppalaisesta ideologiasta tai jotain.

Do you think the focus on things like keeping petrol cars, not having electric cars, can be popular? Well, for some people, yes, maybe. Do you know people who voted for them? A lot of people seriously considered it as an option to, let's say, old politics, thinking that they are some kind of a new wave or something.

The Motorist Party did best among younger urban men and also rural, heavily car-dependent voters, warming to party slogans such as Motoring is an ideology of normal life. Green campaigners are now discussing what all this means.

Ruumiin kafeissa Praagassa Charles-yliopistossa opiskelijat keskustelevat, miten moottorien haastatteluun riittää. Kun lukee moottorien programmiä, se on todella helppoa. Monet ihmisiä näyttävät olevan melko rauhoita ideaan, että he voivat olla sanoneet, että heidän täytyy antaa moottorien haastatteluun.

Here in the political centre of Prague, around the parliament and government area, impressive cars can be seen whisking motorist ministers to their appointments. Also around here are the offices of other parties, trying to work out how to respond to the new mood in politics and public opinion. And when you're an MP for the Green Party, you're feeling the pressure more than most. I'm Gabriela Zvarovska, I'm an MP for Czech Greens, for the Prague constituency, and I'm also co-chair of the Green Party.

The Czech Greens look like nervous cyclists watching the rapid approach of an influencer in a sports car. With only two MPs, they're trying to understand why the motorists with 13 MPs and others questioning net zero plans have growing influence.

When Czechoslovak and East German communism collapsed and cars like the Trabant were scrapped, few could have imagined that another communist state, China, would reinvent itself as global powerhouse in the era of electric mobility. For Zwickau car makers or Czech motorists, this Chinese-dominated vision of the manufacturing future is frightening.

The response for increasing numbers here and across Europe is to reject net zero, rev up defensively their petrol cars and applaud politicians who tell them noisily that the green revolution is not the road to take. This edition of the documentary was presented by me, Chris Bowlby. The producer was Jim Frank and it was mixed by Neil Churchill. The production coordinator was Katie Morrison and the editor was Penny Murphy.