The fight for Prague is at its peak. Enemies from the ODS and the Pirates admit that they could govern together
The ODS and the Pirates sit together in the government, but in Prague they are sharply opposed to each other. Their constituents Bohuslav Svoboda and Zdeněk Hřib are attacked the most in the campaign of all the candidates for mayor. In just a few days, however, they can start negotiating a coalition that will lead the capital for the next four years. Above all, voices are growing in the ODS that it would like to govern Prague with the Pirates. Both parties are among the favorites in the metropolis.
“Could Zdeněk Hřib and other Pirates sit in the new council? I don’t think so, the probability is small,” Bohuslav Svoboda answered questions about a possible post-election. The former mayor is the leader of the candidate group Together for Prague, composed of ODS, KDU-ČSL and TOP 09. The current mayor Hřib reacts similarly. “I can’t imagine cooperation with Svoboda,” he claims.
The people of Prague will go to vote for a new municipality this Friday and Saturday, after a heated election campaign, during which the candidates often resorted to personal attacks. Svoboda was the target of many of them. Competitors, including the Pirates, blamed him for his old age and the fact that he would not give up his parliamentary mandate as mayor. The leader of the Citizen Democrats is 78 years old, he already led Prague between 2010 and 2013.
But after the elections, everything can be different. There is a possibility that both favored parties will forget about the enmity. In particular, the ODS would like to rule with the Pirates in the capital. “I prefer a leadership composed of the same parties as in the government. That is a clear priority for me,” the chairman of the Prague ODS, Marek Benda, told Aktuálně.cz, adding that he believes in the participation of the Starosts and independents. The leader of the Pirates, Ivan Bartoš, does not rule out a coalition – if the civil democrats get rid of several politicians who are unacceptable to his party.
With more than a million inhabitants, Prague has an exceptional place among Czech cities. The annual budget exceeds 90 billion crowns, several times higher than the others. Brno, which is the second largest in the country, has an annual economy of 19 billion. Roughly a third of the money in Prague goes to transport, a large part of which is swallowed up by the construction of metro D. In addition, before the elections, politicians promise to complete the city ring road and would welcome the state to help finance both projects.
The ODS led Prague from the beginning of the 1990s until 2013, when the council dismissed Svoboda from the post of mayor. Since then, the party has been in opposition. Meanwhile, the metropolis was managed by three mayors, from TOP 09, ANO and Pirates.
Citizen Democrats bet on Svoboda again this year. In addition to the Pirates, rivals include Praha seba with leader Jan Čižinský and ANO with Patrik Nacher. Due to their strong background, they can also have a say in the composition of the municipal coalition. “We certainly have more similar attacks than Čižinský or ANO, despite all the ones we experience from the Pirates. I’ll get over it, I understand that there is a choice. It will be best for Prague to breathe in rhythm like the government. If we want key buildings in Prague, it’s the best in cooperation with the government,” Benda declares.
Pražské SPOLU has not cut itself off from ties to the dark past. On the list of candidates, you will find the defendants, candidates who were in contact with the godfathers, or Mr. Pospíšil involved in the Dosimeter case. This is incomprehensible and unacceptable to us. pic.twitter.com/I2oxfvpyPy
— Pirates Prague (@piratipraha) September 20, 2022
But the words of an experienced politician who has been a member of parliament since 1993 are enough, the ODS competition suspects that he actually wants to rule the metropolis with the ANO movement. Even Svoboda described its leader Patrik Nacher as a capable politician. They did not attack each other in the pre-election debates and acted correctly. Nacher, in turn, stated that the programs of Prague’s ANO and ODS are closest to each other. Both parties, for example, promise to cancel some cycle lanes from the last four years, and they describe Prague’s newer leadership as too activist and ideological.
Despite the points of contact, the ODS representatives of the town hall management with ANO refuse and repeat, they want the same coalition as in the government. Pirates are more reserved, but party chairman Ivan Bartoš does not rule out cooperation. When asked if he could imagine her, he answered the editors in general. “We agree with Mayor Zdeňek Hřib that we want decent and honest people with a vision in the leadership of Prague, who are not burdened by business from the past or connected to godfathers. It is unacceptable for us to govern with extremists or people who are being prosecuted,” he said.
Pirates are bothered by the association of some representatives of the Together for Prague coalition with recent cases. “On the candidate list, you will find defendants, candidates who have been in contact with godfathers, or Mr. Pospíšil involved in the Dosimeter case. For us, this is unacceptable,” they point out in the campaign. They point, for example, to the number two candidate Jiří Pospíšil from TOP 09. The MEP and former Minister of Justice met several times with Michal Redl, the main actor in the Dozimetr corruption case. he originally claimed to have only seen her once.
Zdeněk Zajíček from ODS, a former member of parliament and the name of several ministries, is also unacceptable to them. The pirates accuse him of dealings with godfathers or of the fact that he and fellow party member Alexandra Uženija figured in the sale of land near the Džbán swimming pool to a company with ties to the ODS. Uzheniya is also among those whom the Pirates reject.
But if the Pirates wanted to rule without Spolu and ANO, Čižínského Praha and STAN with leader Petr Hlaváček, architect and former head of the Institute of Planning and Development of the Capital City of Prague, would have to significantly succeed. Both Hřib and Čižinský say that this is the kind of coalition they would like the most. Together they already rule in Prague.
But Hlaváček admits that his party has a problem. She comes across a number of people who do not want to vote for her because of the corruption case, in which Petr Hlubuček, until recently the head of STAN in Prague and a member of the city management, figured alongside businessman Michal Redl.
Čižinský, who is the mayor of Prague 7 and a Prague representative, also admits the option that he could negotiate with the people from Spolu after the elections, but not with all of them. “If voters crucify decent people, it is possible to talk to them about a coalition,” he said. He immediately excludes those connected with the Dosimeter corruption case from the possible debate.
How strong is the position of the leader of Freedom
However, it is not just about winning votes, the position of ODS leader Bohuslav Svoboda can significantly influence the post-election negotiations. It is heard from the sidelines that his party colleagues were not exactly enthusiastic about his performance in the campaign. They were embarrassed by Svoboda’s sympathy for Nacher from ANO or the statement that he would retain his parliamentary mandate even as mayor. They even sent candidates instead of Svoboda to several pre-election debates, which led the rival leader to declare that Svoboda was avoiding them.
One of these substitutes was ex-deputy Zajíček, often referred to as the real head of the ODS in Prague. It is he who is being talked about behind the scenes as a possible mayor.
But this possibility is not very likely if the Bunny keeps his word. He told Deník N that he doesn’t even want to be on the city council. He spoke similarly for Aktuálně.cz. “I don’t expect to sit on the council of the capital city. We have a quality team, which includes experienced municipal politicians. We count on them for the council,” he told Deník N, although he added that one should never say anything in politics.
About Svoboda, Zajíček claims that he is ready for the post of mayor and to adapt his other activities to it. In addition to Labor MPs, the Prague leader is also a doctor and an official of health associations. “He goes all out and we will be happy to help him. The team he has around him is capable and competent,” he offered to the leader before the election.
When Aktuálně.cz asked about Svoboda’s position with Mark Benda, the head of the Prague ODS stated that the Citizen Democrats are not considering anyone else as mayor. “Svoboda is our clear leader. I will negotiate the mayoral chain for that,” he declared.
Video: We want to continue with Pirates and STAN, says Čižinský before the elections (September 6, 2022)
With the team we have at number seven, it is possible for me to be an unpaid mayor and devote myself fully to the position of mayor, claims the election leader Praha Sobě. | Video: Martin Veselovsky