I can’t imagine a coalition with Hřib, Nacher from ANO is very capable, says Svoboda
Finishing the city ring road and cars from the city center at any cost is a priority to get the leader of the Together in Prague coalition, Bohuslav Svoboda, who, if the mayor is elected, would get to lead the city again after nine years. In an interview for Aktuálně.cz, he explains why he does not want to cooperate with the mayor for the Pirates, Zdenek Hřibe, or with ANO, and why he insists that he could manage to be a deputy in addition to leading Prague.
At the start of the intense phase of the election campaign of your Spolu coalition, you declared that Prague is dead, not developing in any way, and thus running at thirty percent. Is the Czech capital really that bad, or are you trying to win voters over these words?
I could ask you a counter question and ask you what the city management has done in four years. But I will treat you seriously and not put her down. You’d be pretty stuck on it.
They could certainly debate about it, but we are here to ask you questions, so what is Prague dead about?
The mayor does share celebratory photos where he is cutting ribbons, but look at what he did with what he promised. Subway D? We have a decision that will be made. We made that decision 20 years ago, and now it is considered a major success. Where are there enough apartments for a young family?
They said they’re planting a million trees, but if I don’t have a handle on where I’m going to put them, that’s just a declaration. There may be 100, 500 thousand of them, but Prague’s problem is somewhere else. Prague is basically green. It is the greenest of European cities. It is not just about planting trees, but also about them fulfilling their function. This means that they have the ability to influence the climate.
Your critics argue that measures to combat climate change are not exactly the domain of your coalition and the ODS in general.
I am not saying that the climatic conditions are not significant. But I am saying that planting trees is not enough to change the climate. We need to get traffic out of town. This is a priority because it has a far greater impact on the climate than anything done so far.
What would be your priority as a possible mayor? Is it full circle as you say?
It is an absolute priority. And without its solution, we cannot deal with the climate.
In addition to other measures, would you push to get cars out of the city? For example, banning entry to the center or charging for it?
In order to consider closing something to traffic, you have to try so that the closure does not interrupt the life of the city. This means you need a circuit. When you burden the entrance with a toll, you are supposed to guarantee that people will get to where they want to go despite this obstacle. Once you have secured this, you may wonder if such a move will still be beneficial. Charging the center does bring some funds, but also a lot of complications.
Insist that the circuit must be built at all costs. What is the price?
It means that we would have to suppress another activity that was important for Prague. I don’t want to invent and execute something now, but I will give an example: perhaps we could postpone the construction of a concert hall.
Really? You are a big fan of this project.
The Philharmonic is my baby, but if I had to choose, I would prefer what is necessary. Both are necessary. Everyone needs a circuit, a concert hall is for a certain group of people. It is an educational element, we need the children to get used to music, we need a hall that is multifunctional and plays not only serious music, but also metal and alternative versions. But if I had to choose, I would see it as follows: put all the money in the circuit, start the concert hall.
However, the completion of the outer Prague Ring Road is also complicated by people from your ODS. For example, the mayor of Prague 20 announced the filing of a lawsuit against the zoning decision issued for one section.
All the mayors and all the small districts are against it, that there is any construction in their area. It has its own logic and they must be convinced that they will follow all the measures so that the burden is as small as possible.
I myself remember when I acted in Suchdol as mayor. It was a desperate act. They almost had golden paving stones in the square, how much money did the city put in to enforce it, and it still didn’t work. I don’t even want to say who the mayor was. That’s not important. The important thing is that it has progressed under the leadership of mayors for the ODS.
I want a coalition like in the government, but I can’t imagine it with Hřib
What topics do you think will decide this year’s elections in Prague?
I believe that people will make decisions based on what they think will benefit Prague. People remind me of the time when I was mayor and say that they want an era again when corruption was not talked about, but corruption was eliminated. Including the mayor. Mayor Hřib now only has complaints against us in the sense that we will govern with YES, that I am old and do not have a good memory. He only attacks personal things, which is not worthy of a politician in this position. I would be very happy if we behaved like real rivals.
Is Zdeněk Hřib your biggest rival?
Surprisingly, I don’t think so. I would have to think that he is a quality opponent with good collaborators and a good plan. He’s having none of it.
Today we’ll start @Aktualnecz an interview with the leader of SPOLU and the mayor of Prague, Bohuslav Svoboda, here is a sample. I think a lot about him, what is his inner motivation, what kind of mayor would he be? At the age of 78, working in clinics, being a member of parliament, wanting Prague. Is it admirable? Isn’t it? pic.twitter.com/FFSAcHl5To
— Radek Bartonicek (@R_Bartonicek) September 7, 2022
So who is the biggest rival?
It is very complicated at the communal level. Actually, I can’t even define who is good and who is bad. The coalition was put together artificially just to get over the party that won the election. That is, through us. They constantly argue, neither side has. It’s hard for me to decide who would be the biggest rival or a good partner.
When you said the choice of partners, in cooperation after the elections you exclude only the SPD and probably also the Communists, is that right?
It is to take. We definitely rule out cooperation with the Communists and the SPD.
Otherwise, can you imagine working with everyone?
Yes, but I mean with everyone whose program will be close to ours and, above all, we will be in agreement on fundamental topics and principles so that we don’t argue from the beginning. It is true that some sides are attributed to us, but the harmony of ideas is complex.
Now you mean that you are credited with working with ANO?
I would like to have the same coalition as at the government level, because then I would be able to communicate with them directly.
Could Zdeněk Hřib also sit in such a coalition?
I do not think so. His ability to work with a plan is very small.
What about the other Pirates?
That probability is very small, because there would have to be a program match. I don’t see any. They would have to change or change by 100 percent. Otherwise, there is no common bond.
ANO leader Patrik Nacher?
This is a person who, from my point of view, is very capable. He specializes closely in debt issues, he does it really well and he is a person who is hardworking and able to listen. If we are not talking about party affiliation, he is a quality person.
Does this mean that you would possibly cooperate with the ANO movement, of which you are the leader in Prague?
So far, I don’t see any joint bodies between the ODS and the ANO movement.
I can judge whether I am capable of being mayor
Some are now debating before the election whether your age, 78, is suitable for the mayor of the largest city in our country.
That’s the reality, and the reality is that at a certain stage in life they can start to change. But this can happen to a thirty-year-old, it just doesn’t happen that often. I am convinced that I have the prerequisites for leadership and was able to utilize a number of skills from the previous period. I have an excellent team around me.
And I can medically assess whether I am capable or not. I am also the head of the clinic, I operate, and I know with absolute certainty that if there is something in the room that I don’t know how to deal with, I quit and I won’t be the boss anymore.
You visited the clinic almost every day. Is it married?
I am there practically every day, I go as soon as I learn from the report what happened that night, what the possible complicated cases were, I investigate them or decide how to proceed. If it’s a day when I have a little more time, I’ll do what I have first thing in the morning. Two days a week I still make a big visit.
If you win the election, will you still run the clinic?
If I were the mayor, I would no longer lead it, the same was the case between 2010 and 2013, when I was the mayor. There was another boss.
It is admirable that you are prosecuting the clinic and the embassy. But is it possible to have a full-time job, devote yourself to the Chamber of Deputies and still lead a big city like Prague as mayor? What motivates you to pursue all these activities?
The catch is that the clinic and surgery are a passion for me.
We understand that. But a person has to leave some things in life, being means a lot to him.
But if I were to give up this passion, I would be giving up what was most important in my life. What I thought I couldn’t live without. Of course, life is such that at some age I just won’t be able to do that.
But to do this as a member of parliament and possibly mayor?
But by giving up the management of the clinic, I am giving the mayor’s office as much as I can. I have nothing more to give because after that it’s just family.
But you could also give up the parliamentary mandate and mainly just take over the leadership of Prague.
I see this mandate as an important thing, because Prague has not managed to push through any important legislative proposal in the Chamber. At the moment when I have the opportunity to be in the Chamber, I can significantly help the implementation of these proposals. But it is clear that if I am entrusted with the management of this city, I will also consider all the minuses that the parliamentary mandate represents.
Won’t it be enough if Prague has several deputies who will promote these proposals?
Turns out this doesn’t work.
Aren’t you worried that this accumulation of features can take you enough votes in the election?
I will always try to explain how this is meaningful and, unlike others, for example Mr. Čižínský, who plans to remain mayor of Prague 7, I say this unpopular thing openly.
Don’t you sometimes think that life is too short for a person to not stop at almost eighty years old and get angry about things like politics?
Hello, I’ve been trying to help people all my life. And when it came to politics, it bothered me that people were swearing at her over beer. I got into it and I feel like I haven’t done anything in it yet.
And didn’t it also play a role that you couldn’t say when everyone was urging you to become the leader because nobody else wanted it and according to the survey you are quite a lot of voters?
No. It’s about, as my grandmother used to say, big boys don’t run away from a fight.