Prague has a new coalition. The ODS with TOP 09 will rule
The ODS and TOP 09 will rule in Prague. The mayor will continue to be Bohuslav Svoboda, and the Civic Democrats will have two more squares and two councilors left. TOP 09 will have a slight majority in the council – it will get two squares and four councilors. The new composition has already been approved by the Prague City Council. The current coalition of the ODS and the CSSD at Prague City Hall fell apart this week. However, the circumstances of the agreement between the new leadership in the metropolis confirmed that there were differences within the Prague ODS.
Only a part of the ODS around the mayor concluded a coalition agreement in the morning on the proposal of TOP 09. The second party faction, which is connected to the head of the Prague ODS, Boris Šťastný, began to join them under the pressure of circumstances. According to him, Šťastný was not immediately informed about the agreement and described Svoboda’s conduct as non-standard.
“The offer has a very short-term character, because TOP 09 wants to act quickly. It is really exclusive for the ODS, because it keeps the post of mayor, “Svoboda said in the morning. “I can’t imagine that someone would make a deal with such an exclusive offer for the ODS, they would not want to support it,” he added.
“It is not possible to wait until the end of the current coalition agreement, Prague is in a situation where it cannot afford it,” said Zdeněk Tůma on behalf of TOP 09. Tůma, who was the TOP 09 post-election candidate for mayor, is to become the head of the finance committee and will have an important say in drawing up the budget.
The contract was not only signed by the mayor of Prague 6, Marie Kousalíková (ODS). But she will support it if approved by the regional council, she said.
For the TOP 09, the positions of deputies Tomáš Hudeček and Pavel Richter will be filled. Helena Chudomelová, Lukáš Manhart, Eva Vorlíčková and Václav Novotný were elected TOP 09 in the rank of ordinary councilors. Deputies Ivan Kabický and Josef Nosek and councilors Aleksandra Udženija and Radek Lohynský remained behind the ODS, but some of their competencies will change. The council will thus have a full 11 members, as required by law.
According to Svoboda, the new council of the capital should meet on Tuesday. The 30-day notice period of the coalition agreement with the CSSD would then no longer apply.
Freedom is provided by Nečas, Šťastný is out of tune
Happy about the process of establishing the new Prague Council of Discord. He expected the official talks to take place in the afternoon. Svoboda’s separate negotiations with TOP 09 were, according to Šťastný, an unprecedented step that he wants to solve in the party bodies. Submitting the agreement from the mayor for signing considers Happy as a certain ultimatum.
Prime Minister Petr Nečas has already stood up for Freedom, approving his action. “The conclusion of a coalition agreement with TOP 09 at the Prague City Hall is the right and sensible step,” said the Prime Minister.
Schwarzenberg praises Svoboda for “unraveling with godparents”
The chairman of TOP 09, Karel Schwarzenberg, in response to today’s developments at the Prague City Hall, stated that a situation has finally arisen at the town hall that “corresponds to the election results.”
Foreign Minister Schwarzenberg added to the press that his TOP 09 supports Svoboda as mayor. “He proved very useful and I respect him very much, because he really started to fight the scandals that were at the town hall and the town hall. He messed with the godparents, so he is the right mayor and therefore we will support him, “said the leader of TOP 09.
According to the president, the situation got out of hand
President Václav Klaus, who previously formed a coalition of the ODS and CSSD at Prague City Hall, said today that he was surprised by its disintegration.
“It seems to me that someone has embarked on a project that is getting out of hand, and now I see it very vaguely. I understand that the people of Prague must frown at this. I’m frowning too, “the president said on Novinky.cz, where he discussed with readers on the internet server.