New vice-chairman STAN: Prague will be difficult, we will try to turn it around
At Saturday’s assembly, you elected a new leadership following the recent cases surrounding the STAN movement, and you are one of the new vice-chairmen. In your candidacy speech, you partially criticized the way these problems were approached and communicated. Now you have the opportunity to change that, will you be involved in this area?
The difference between the last parliament and this one is that today we have a large parliamentary club that actively communicates with each other. This large club, as part of what started to happen right after the elections, felt that we stupidly miscommunicated the departure of Jan Farský to America, that we did not communicate well about the ministerial engagement of Věslav Michalik. If it had been taken for a better ending, the whole thing could have turned out completely differently and it might not have caused so much damage.
We could not respond to what happened around Petr Hlubuček with any excuses or silence, we had to react quickly and very forcefully, which I think happened.
The crisis communication segment was not that busy, so that was the reason why I actually talked about this agenda in the candidate’s speech. I worked in the media for twenty-five years, so I know how journalists think and how politicians should think. I consider this to be a great big thing that not everyone has. At the same time, I would like to focus on elections and electoral strategies, I have studied that.
Now you will have about two months to regain the lost percentages among the voters. Do you already have a strategy in place?
In my opinion, the first realistic measurement will not be tomorrow, but it will be in October, rather in November. I think we’ll know how we’re doing in November. Until then, there is no point in collapsing because politics is not a climb to Mount Everest, but a river that flows, and there is no point in committing ritual suicides now, but to wait three, four months and find out how we passed or not.
How do you estimate the results of STAN in Prague, which were affected by the Dosimeter case?
Prague will be a big problem, because it was really hit hard. We will try to pick that corner as best as we can. We will try to change the current impression caused by the Petr Hlubuček case (the former head of the Prague STAN cell now accused in the case, note ed.) into some other perception. We have two months to do it, so it will be a sprint. We will probably get to that in the next few days.
How do you want to change the opinion of STAN voters who, for example, deviate from the movement due to these consequences? Do you have any specific plans yet?
I have, but I can’t tell you right now.
What could the voters of Prague be convinced of?
You actually have two options, how the voters can perceive it in the extreme. One extreme that I can think of right now is “those Starostov have their Hlubuček, disaster and horror”. Or, on the other hand, they can say to themselves in September that the movement is full of great and talented people who have made us a lot, and the villages and towns they look after look excellent, so they won’t be spoiled by one black sheep who stepped on the sidelines.
Those are the two extremes we’ll be moving in, and I hope we’ll get as far as possible in the other. An important condition is that Petr Hlaváček remained as Prague’s leader, which I think is a very good choice, he has natural authority and natural charisma. The candidate has also changed. We could not respond to what happened around Petr Hlubuček with any excuses or silence, we had to react quickly and very forcefully, which I think happened.
We will tell ourselves how we succeed or fail on September 24, when the election results are announced.
Aren’t you worried that during the last two months leading up to the elections, something else might come to the surface regarding the case?
If I tell you that I am not worried, then you can consider me an optimist who is just a poorly educated pessimist, but in principle I am not worried. We’ll see. Maybe it will turn out that it will start to flow to other parties. I’ll be surprised.