Prague should save on the army of mayor’s advisers and warm places for friends, says Alexandra Udženija – Forum24
For many years she cooperated with the mayor of Prague 2 Jana Černochová, now she has taken over her role. Alexandra Udženija has moved a little higher in communal politics, and this may not be her last success this year. The ODS, which has been a member since 2003, will go to the autumn municipal elections in Prague in a coalition with the People’s Party and TOP 09. And its only goal is to win and send its deputy to the role of mayor of the capital. In an interview with FORUM 24, Udženija explains what the metropolis’s biggest problems are with what the Pirates are doing on their heads, whether it has wanted to slap someone lately, or whether it has ambitions to become mayor.
Mayor, you took over the baton in Prague 2 after Jana Černochová, who became a ministry. Will it be difficult to replace it?
As a long-time mayor, Jana Černochová has done a really large amount of work for the development of the “two” and for its citizens. My ambition is to build on our cooperation and continue to develop Prague 2 as we promised the citizens. After all, we have beautiful projects ahead of us on the “two”, such as a new water feature in Čechovy sady and the associated park design, we are working on a single project, New Home, whichit will expand the existing capacity of residential social services for the elderly and will also be intended for clients who need care with a special regime. We start the year of “two” in February, so people have something to look forward to.
Read on
In the new issue, the weekly FORUM brings the latest survey on the presidential election
read article »
What problems do you think both your city district and Prague in general are bothered?
There are several of them and the problems of “big” Prague also affect Prague 2, it can always be completely strictly separated. I consider traffic and clutter in the streets to be the most pressing problem of the capital city of Prague. Both are rather ignored or downplayed by the municipal coalition, and the impacts on individual city districts, and especially on the living comfort of Praguers, are enormous. Of course, people can’t tell who’s in charge, and they naturally turn to their town hall with every problem. However, therefore, to deal with these matters at the local level, but without cooperation with the capital, it is a futile struggle. For example, we cannot endlessly subsidize waste collection and the cleaning of what the capital is responsible for. Cooperation by the municipal coalition is still very difficult.
You are a long-time critic of the Pirates’ rule in the municipality. What exactly bothers you so much?
Mainly the chaos and incompetence of the Prague leadership, but it is not only the Pirates, but also the Prague group itself. Prague is run activistically, unconceptually, populistly, and it is up to it to develop, or rather not to develop. It is most visible in transport. An “anointed head” thinks that it would be nice to create a bike lane on Plzeňská, and then in 14 days it turns out that this is nonsense, because ambulances do not go to Motol here at rush hour, and the bike lanes are repainted. It’s really upside down. Some of the coalition probably liked that it would be nice PR photos and that they could boast of how to support bicycle transport, but the capital really can’t be driven like this. It would take less cries of darkness and self-promotion and more conceptualism and balance.
It’s time for a coronavirus to investigate. Where can you save in the capital if it goes?
Of course it works. It would be ideal to start saving on that artificial overemployment. In that army of mayor’s advisers, all those warm places in city companies for friends, vacant vice-chairmen of committees, city-run institutions, and more. If Hřib’s coalition tells Prague to reach deeper into their pockets and pay more money for the same level of service, because the city budget is in trouble, I think it is basic decency to start saving first on its own, in its own operation. And that’s not really happening yet.
The issue mentioned indefinitely is transport and parking. When will something in this direction finally happen?
It is crucial for Prague to complete the circuits, the current municipal coalition has not really done much in this field. It is, of course, very good that the new Minister of Transport, Martin Kupka from the ODS, has included the Prague ring road among his priorities, but without cooperation with the municipality he cannot do much, and I am not sure of the willingness of the municipal coalition to cooperate. Better coordination of traffic closures and communication with individual town halls during repairs or modifications of the transport infrastructure would also greatly help Prague’s transport and parking. However, I am afraid that if the current coalition coughed for three years and Jan Čižinský, who has been with the government for seven years, he will not improve them much in the remaining time.
Read on
Celebrate your birthday with us! There is a discount for you and the new FORUM Weekly website
read article »
Is it important for the mayor how he presents himself on social networks, or should the results be seen?
So what do you think Praguers need more? A mayor who has nice photos like Ex-Minister Schiller, or someone who actually and conceptually manages our metropolis? I think the answer is quite simple.
The TOTAL coalition will also be formed for the autumn municipal elections, do you think this is the right step?
It is the right step. The success of the TOTAL coalition in Prague in the October parliamentary elections was truly phenomenal, we won over 40% of the vote. Far more than a simple sum of the preferences of the parties of the coalition. From this it is clear that the voters appreciated the effort to agree and that the union of right-wing non-populist political parties appeals to them. I very much appreciate this trust and I would consider it very irresponsible if we did not try the same at the municipal level and did not bring the same offer of a reasonable right-wing policy to the people of Prague. Prague needs responsible leadership that acts predictably and judiciously, and the TOTAL coalition is just such a force.
Were the negotiations really as smooth as they seemed when the memorandum was signed, or did you clash with the People’s Party and TOP 09 somewhere?
There was really no clash. We have clearly stated our priorities with our partners and we have agreed on the need to return to Prague a responsible right-wing policy, which will finally set in motion the overstepping development of our capital. There was an absolute consensus.
Who is an acceptable coalition partner for TOTAL if they have to look? Is the movement YES possible?
The TOTAL coalition does not want to disappoint its voters and always wants to act in advance. Therefore, our Prague President Marek Benda unequivocally declared that he would like to copy in some form of government level, and thus naturally dealt primarily with STAN and Pirates. What I can rule out is a coalition with the YES movement, even though we agree from the opposition benches on many points of view and municipal programming points. Jan Čižinský is one who is very difficult to accept for us, because we consider him a political tourist and a completely unreliable partner.
It has been quite busy around you in the past. Four years ago, for example, the council slapped. Have you ever wanted to give someone else?
I don’t really resolve conflicts in this way, I hate violence and I don’t belong in a decent society. At that time, it was a really extraordinary situation, when one representative in Prague 2 insulted me incredibly vulgarly and for a long time and mentally abused my colleague, who could not defend herself. The degree of vulgarity on his part was extreme, it cannot even be published. At that moment, I feel an urgent need to stand up for the weaker. Fortunately, I have not encountered such extreme vulgarity since then, even though Mayor Hřib is literally famous for his arrogant borderline chauvinism.
It is clear that the leader of the candidate and the potential mayor will be someone from the ODS. Is it already selected or is it still “tuning in” in the coalition?
When signing the memorandum on the pre-election coalition, we were the only ones to transparently present the filling of the seats on the list of candidates. The position of the candidate for mayor will be the nomination ODS. At this point, it would not be serious for our partners to divulge the name through the media. We’ll introduce him to them first.
Read on
Let’s not be lulled! The weakened democracy is strengthened by the free media, and continue to support them
read article »
Do you have ambitions to become mayor?
I have no such ambition. For a long time, I have been implementing at the municipal level in Prague 2 and at the municipal level throughout Prague, and this work and the positions I am in completely fulfill me.
Is it important for Prague to have it next to a person who was born there, or at least to spend a substantial part of his life?
It is especially important for Prague to make it responsible, hardworking, with experience in managing the city. Prague is a cosmopolitan city and there are many people who have done a lot for Prague and yet were not born here. The condition is that if someone wants to lead and manage Prague, they must also know it well, and especially know the needs of its inhabitants.
Will horses be held in the Old Town Square after the municipal elections, or will there be priority topics?
If the TOTAL coalition receives from the voters their confidence and mandate for Prague to lead, the primary issues that really bother Praguers and can not stand the delay will be resolved. I don’t think it’s horse-drawn carriages and pandas.
It seems that the new leadership of the capital will no longer have to fight the covid. Will it therefore be easier for him?
I doubt it. I would definitely not call the damage after the coronavirus pandemic and after the current municipal coalition “simple”. There is a lot of work ahead of the new management.