sentences:  The rigid party discipline that characterised the Czechoslovak political system enabled the Petka representatives to control each of their party's members in the Assembly and they were thereby in a position to control the cabinet.In fact, the Petka has been described as "the real government of the country".Conceived on an ad hoc basis, this behind-the-scenes forum proved so effective, that the leaders of the five parties – the Agrarians, the National Socialists, the National Democrats, the Social Democrats, and the Catholic Party – reconvened the Pětka on several occasions throughout the following two decades.