During the 1989 Velvet Revolution Štrougal was one of the candidates for the communist party chairmanship, but later left political stage and in February 1990 he was expelled from the party.
Under sammetsrevolutionen 1989 var Štrougal en av kandidaterna till ordförandeposten i kommunistpartiet, men lämnade senare den politiska scenen och i februari 1990 uteslöts han ur partiet.