Eight reports from the elections: votes for the defendant, how to (not) stop extremists and what Prague wants
Municipal elections never have a clear winner as transparently as they do in House elections or after a second senate race, which is why we now see almost every party claiming victory and confirming what they said during the campaign. So let’s see what the most important messages these elections sent us.
1. The ruling parties held their ground. Of course, we all perceive the clear decline of the Mayors and Independents movement, but otherwise the opposition was definitely not outnumbered. No, the government definitely did not clearly win these elections, but neither did the YES movement, and certainly not the extremists. And this despite the fact that they are abusing the war in Ukraine to give the impression that the end of the world will soon prevail, for which Petr Fiala is particularly to blame. In such a difficult time, a much worse result could have been expected.
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2. The TOGETHER coalition in Prague did not understand what the voters wanted. It was once said that even Václav Klaus’ tennis racket would win in Prague. But that was at a time when young and liberal voters were much more likely to lean towards ODS. However, this cannot happen again if there are always old faces on the candidates’ foreheads and she does not want to find someone else. Candidates cannot be easily circled as in other elections. Voters were discouraged by the behavior of Bohuslav Svoboda in the pre-election debates and the fact that Alexandra Udženija was again high on the list of candidates. TOGETHER she had a chance for a unique victory and a majority of mandates. None of this happened and the leadership of the Prague ODS, TOP 09 and KDU together prepared by up to ten percent.
3. Voters who provide immunity. although Senate President Miloš Vystrčil will probably defeat Jana Nagyová from ANO in the second round of the Senate elections, it is seriously sad to see how many people are willing to be taken advantage of by the cynicism of Andrej Babiš. These people serve as a ticket to an institution that offers immunity. Ms. Nagy herself admitted that this is the first thing she will strive for. If her message wasn’t enough for all these voters, it’s their sad business card.
4. Failure to agree is a vote for extremists. In Karlovy Vary and Kroměříž, the democratic parties will not have their candidate for the senate for the second round. In Karlovy Vary, it will be a battle between ANO and SPD, and in Kroměříž, ANO and Jana Zwyrtek Hamplová, a representative of the pro-Kremlin, anti-vaxxer scene. To a large extent, this was the fault of the democratic parties themselves, because if they were able to unite even more and agree on one candidate, citizens would not have to choose between extremists and anti-democrats.
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5. A nobleman could be the mayor. In Pohořelice, where the former policeman lives, his movement won with 41.29 percent of the votes. The good news for everyone except the residents of Pohořice will be if the Nobility decides to lead the city and does not continue to try to get into the highest levels of politics.
6. ČSSD will not return to the scene. For the Social Democrats, two senatorial candidates appear to advance to the second round, Jaromír Strnad and Zdeněk Matušek. but they both succeeded in that they had the support of Babiš’s ANO movement at the same time. In exceptional cases, the ČSSD candidates succeeded, but mostly they did not do very well even under other names, under which they wanted to hide the toxic brand.
7. The STAN movement was losing. Accumulation of affairs and insufficient self-reflection is probably how voters perceive the situation of the Elders and Independents movement. Although it is not a major drop in the municipal elections, they lost significantly in the senate. But it is also a message that in many places, all governing parties should field a candidate together. Extremists across the spectrum simply have power.
8. The SPD was located in the larger cities. In the case of Tomio Okamura’s movement, various connections with other pro-Russian parties, such as the Tricolor and anti-vaxxers in Prague, also paid off. The anti-war but actually pro-Russian campaign worked in many places, as did the effort to turn attention away from communal issues and what actually affects these elections. In the communal, Okamura strengthened.