Vladimír Dlouhy vs. mayoral candidates. The pre-election debate at the Chamber of Commerce brought surprising peace
photo: repro Youtube/Pre-election debate at the Chamber of Commerce of the Czech Republic.
Municipal elections are fast approaching. And while on the floor of the Prague council the rivals have been rather toughening up in mutual discussions for several months, in the debate organized by the Chamber of Commerce of the Czech Republic for the candidates for the post of mayor of Prague, people could watch an unusually cultivated dialogue online.
The pre-election debate itself took place on Monday afternoon and was available via the YouTube platform, for example at the stands of the ČTK agency. Next to the current mayor Zdenek Hřiba (Pirates) and his first deputy Petr Hlaváček (STAN), Jan Čižinský, chairman of the club of representatives for the Praha seba movement, and also the leaders of both current opposition parties, Bohuslav Svoboda as a candidate of the coalition SPOLU for Prague, sat down at the debate tables. and Patrik Nacher, candidate for mayor of the ANO movement.
Prague as a driver of GDP
The presenter Michala Hergetová and ex-minister Vladimír Dlouhý as the president of the Chamber of Commerce of the Czech Republic welcomed those present at the beginning, this debate took place on the floor. “We organized a similar meeting of candidates before the parliamentary elections and decided to organize it now as well. And why are we dealing with the elections in Prague here on the republican platform? Because our capital city generates more than a quarter of the gross domestic product and is also home to hundreds of thousands of entrepreneurs – whether individuals or legal entities,” said Dlouhý.
Then, under the baton of the moderator, it started divided into several thematic blocks. The topic of transport was the first to come to the fore. At first, the contributions revolved around the completion of the Prague road bypass, and it was evident that de facto all the candidates agreed that this was a priority for the city. While Mayor Hřib defended the current leadership of Prague and noted that he regularly negotiates with the Ministry of Transport and the Directorate of Roads and Highways, his deputy Petr Hlaváček pointed out that the proposed circuit also has its pitfalls.
The only possible way
“We say that the circuit is needed, but we also know on the basis that the way it is designed is not the best, but it is the only possible one,” he noted. According to him, the braking forces that slow down the circuit construction process are very powerful. “The situation is serious, maybe it will turn out like in Pilsen, where a special law was needed,” he added, alluding to the complicated construction of the Pilsen highway bypass.
In the end, despite a small skirmish on the subject of the political affiliation of the mayors, who in individual city districts are blocking the construction of specific sections of the bypass, the candidates agreed that it is not a matter of party affiliation, but of a specific political representation of that of the city hall. “It is a political decision and as soon as we make it, the whole thing can start to move,” remarked Bohuslav Svoboda, who does not hide the fact that he would push through the ring road even at the cost of other important city investments. He also added that he has an agreement with the Ministry of Transport, Martin Kupka, on support from the state. “The problem is that the project still has some flaws, which is why the city districts it touches are blocking it. It’s about negotiating and eliminating these mistakes,” Jan Čižinský also joined the debate.
According to Patrik Nacher, the circuit should serve not only for transit, but also to speed up transportation through the city. He also repeated his mantra about the unfair redistribution of taxes, referring to the stated twenty-seven percent of GDP that Prague generates within the entire republic. “The city districts that block the ring road then take the rest of Prague hostage,” Nacher noted, adding that Prague and, by extension, the state should negotiate compensations with the town halls in the places where the Prague bypass is supposed to lead.
Barrandovský bridge as a theme
The reconstruction of the Barrandovský bridge, parking or uncoordinated closures, which were commented rather harshly by ANO leader Nacher, also came under fire. “If someone promises that there will be no columns, they are lying. I will not lie to the people here, but I will do everything to better communicate with the city districts, to make use of digitization and hopefully it will be better,” he noted.
The final evaluation of the transport block by Vladimír Dlouhé was interesting. “I remember my visit to Pilsen, when I was trying to get around there. After a while of discussion, no one noticed that a young minister from Prague was there, and the whole debate got bogged down in local disputes. At that moment I saw that a strong solution would have to come. It will be similar in Prague as well, if everyone does not come to an agreement,” he commented on the topic of the highway bypass of Prague. And he did not forgive his own view of Prague politics, which, according to him, experienced the greatest development under Mayor Pavel Bém (ODS). “Bém and Paroubek were the last to build something big in Prague,” he added. However, this was rejected by Jan Čižínský, who drew attention to record investments in the last election period.
A metropolitan plan? They say it’s coming soon
The next block of the debate was devoted to the topic of complex approval processes and mainly revolved around the Metropolitan Plan of Prague and the energy concept of the city. Here, Bohuslav Svoboda highlighted the need for communication with entrepreneurs in the given territory, which is developing, as well as the need to plan civic amenities and the necessary transport infrastructure in advance.
Patrik Nacher, in turn, equated the “subway” with the modern concept of a city of short distances, where all the necessary amenities are available in every location. “We mustn’t be afraid of densifying construction inside the city, this will naturally also ease traffic, we must ruthlessly promote construction in brownfields,” noted Nacher. According to Mayor Hřiby, the current form of the plan is better than it was four years ago, and he also admitted another round of comments. Architect Petr Hlaváček, probably the most expert of the candidates present, said that there is a high chance of an early approval of the metropolitan plan. “The city is alive, the idea that we will make an ideal perfect plan is unrealistic. The moment the final form is approved, we will be in the same situation as when we buy a new car, drive it out of the store, and at that moment its value is lower,” compared Hlaváček.
It’s about people, not political parties
Jan Čižinský, on the other hand, pointed out that it is not about party affiliation, but about specific people and added an example from his home Prague 7, where, according to him, construction permits are being granted very quickly thanks to the competence of officials.
Prague’s climate plan, the city’s energy self-sufficiency and the current energy crisis were also addressed. “We are on the path of investing the European Union’s money in renewable resources that will ensure both our energy self-sufficiency and the fulfillment of the goals of the climate plan,” said Hřib, recalling the current construction of a biogas station, solar power plant and other projects. Patrik Nacher needs the return of reality legislation against the problem of people with heating. Jan Čižinský, on the other hand, mitigated the fears of the people of Prague by saying that if there is no “apocalypse”, there will be no need to amend the existing legislation, which for example prohibits heating with solid fuels.
Help to the people of Prague for borrowed billions
Rather surprising was Patrik Nacher’s statement that he would be willing to negotiate with Pražská plynárenská about a crisis tariff for the capital’s residents to help the people of Prague, which he ensures with the argument that the capital itself recently lent this company two billion crowns to buy gas.
At the end of the discussion, topics such as tourism, the restart of the economy and tourism after the covid period, and digitization were discussed. In principle, what was interesting was that all the candidates more or less agreed on priorities in these areas, and unlike the discussions in the Prague council, there was a truly cultured debate without major antagonisms. An uninformed viewer could get the feeling that the opponents of the upcoming election race are even taking notes.