Stormy council in Prague 14. The coalition of TOP 09, ODS and Pirates | Politics News Pražská Drbna
The current coalition of TOP 09, ODS and Pirates broke up at the City Hall of Prague 14 due to internal disagreements. At today’s meeting of the deputies, councilors and deputy mayors from the ranks of TOP 09 and Pirates resigned. The reason for the resignation was a proposal to include materials on cooperative housing and construction in Hloubětín in the program without the prior approval of the council. Five of the seven members resigned from the board. The deputies subsequently elected new deputy mayors and councilors from a new coalition consisting of the ODS, STAN, KDU-ČSL and ANO. He has a majority of 18 votes in the 31-member council.
Prague 14 includes part of Hloubětín and the entire cadastral area of Kyjí, Černý Most and Hostavice. It has a population of almost 50,000.
The current coalition has run the town hall since June this year and had a majority of 16 votes in the 31-member council. It was formed after the collapse of the United Forces coalition for Prague 14 (TOP 09, STAN and KDU-ČSL), ODS and Pirates, which was formed after the elections in 2018. Representatives also argued over the proposal of Deputy Martin Kouklík (KDU-ČSL), to cancel the online transmission of the meeting. In the end, it approved.
“Given that it is clear that the city council wants to discuss two problematic points, we do not want to be there and I resign as deputy mayor and I ask other colleagues to do so.” said the former deputy mayor now Radek Vondra (TOP 09). The same reason was subsequently given by Deputy Mayors Irena Kolmanová (TOP 09) and Petr Hukal (Pirates) and Councilors Jiří Klíma (TOP 09) and Pavel Mašek (TOP 09).
The city district of Prague 22 filed a criminal complaint against former mayor Vojtěch Zelenka (STAN and Svobodní) for last year signing changes to an amendment to a contract for the construction of a home for the elderly regarding an increase in the price of construction. City Hall in a press release today …
Cancel online transfer?
The deputies first sped over due to Kouklík’s proposal to cancel the online transmission. Together with other representatives of the ODS and YES, they stated that this is to save money, because according to him, few people watch the transmission. Mayor Jiří Zajac (ODS) reiterated that recording is turned off only today. “During the time we broadcast online, there are 30 followers and it costs 15 thousand crowns. I don’t think it will make citizens’ awareness worse.” said Councilor Jaromír Krátký (ODS). According to Pirates and TOP 09, this is a return to the 1990s.
In addition to the cancellation of the transfer, the deputies argued in particular for the inclusion of materials on cooperative construction and construction in Hloubětín. According to TOP 09, they were originally included in the program without the consent of the council, subsequently withdrawn and today they were submitted to the so-called table. “Someone comes, puts it on the table, goes out beforehand, ie the return of the online transmission, that’s until the nineties,” Vondra said. He described the procedure as a fraud on the people of Hloubětín. “It has been achieved that people do not bother here, they cannot watch the live broadcast and it is the way you wanted,” Mašek added.
Zajac disagreed with them. “Colleague Vondra knows that we consulted both materials for a long time, at least the draft memorandum (on the construction in Hloubětín) was available for weeks and was without comments. I do not know of citizens who would like to come here to protest against the establishment of the cooperative. It’s scary.” he said. According to a memorandum with the developer, the town hall will ensure the functioning of the health center to be demolished, and the town hall will have an impact on what will be established in Hloubětín.
Board breakdown
Only the mayor Zajac and councilor Krátký remained in the originally seven-member council after the resignation of the representatives of TOP 09 and Pirates. Former Councilor Michal Prager (Pirates) resigned some time ago due to health reasons, and Josef Kutmon (ODS) also resigned.
Today, the deputies also elected new deputy mayors and councilors to fill the vacancies. Zuzana Jelenová (STAN), who has already sat on the board in the past, has become the new first deputy mayor. The next deputy mayor was Mária Ševčíková (ANO) and councilors Tomáš Novotný (ANO) and Martin Kouklík (KDU-ČSL). Jan Liška (STAN), Karel Med (ANO) and Adam Palát (security) became unreleased councilors who hold office for free.