I wouldn’t really want Hřiba at the head of Prague. Okamura did not think it through, Senator Růžička comments on the election
Senate Deputy Chairman Jiří Růžička | PHOTO: Jiří Růžička / with permission
Senator Jiří Růžička, who was re-elected by the citizens in the first round of the senate elections, is not surprised by the ANO movement due to the current problems associated with the war in Ukraine. “One could have expected that the easiest thing would be to shout and say that someone should change it and help,” he commented on the election results in an interview with the daily FORUM 24. According to him, the unity of the coalition parties would be more appropriate.
On Saturday or Sunday morning, you celebrated success. Did you expect such a result?
It would be presumptuous to say that I expected such success. I believed that I would advance to the second round, but I did not dare to think that I would win in the first round.
What do you think of Tomio Okamura’s choice?
I’m definitely not going to make fun of it anymore. I think Mr. Okamura has already made fun of himself. I feel that he could have helped me a little not only with that one vote, but at least in PR. I don’t think it was thought out on his part.
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How do you intend to handle your senatorial post in the future?
I actually entered it years ago with the idea that I would devote myself to education, education, and during my vice-presidency, position in the leadership of the senate, I added, let’s say, parliamentary diplomacy, that is, contacts with foreign countries in the field of international relations, security and so on. I would like to continue to dedicate myself to this.
Do you have a specific vision for education?
Of course. I was a school principal for thirty years and for years I advocated greater individualization in education, development of the strengths of each individual, greater choice, less life-shortening, less uniformity. I would like to continue to promote this.
How do you see your colleagues and Senate President Miloš Vystrčil, who will face Jana Nagyová in the second round this week?
I firmly believe that he will win and I will try to help him. I intend to help him more on social networks than to go there directly. I think that he has enough capable people around him, but at least on social networks and where I will speak a lot about it, I will emphasize that at the moment there has been insolence against me, to the point where I would say indecency or obscenity in expression, and clear attitude and politeness. I am completely clear about that.
How do you overall evaluate the results of the first round of the senate elections?
It was probably expected that they would strengthen YES. But I don’t think that it should be a famous success in the second round. I think it will be about half and half. I am just shocked, saddened and not happy that representatives of such extremist parties as the SPD advanced to the second round.
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And what do you say about the results of the municipal elections? Did any result surprise you?
I probably wouldn’t be surprised by anything. The fact that the YES parties strengthened is probably to be expected. It is hard to expect anything else after a lot of problems have appeared directly or indirectly related to the war in Ukraine. Economic matters and so on also affected our citizens. One would expect that the easiest thing to do would be to shout and tell someone to change it and help. It probably didn’t surprise me in any way. I would have to repeat again that what surprises me unpleasantly is the success of extremist parties such as the SPD or the Tricolor. I don’t like that.
Do you think that the parties, for example those from the TOGETHER coalition, could have done something differently in their campaigns to be more incisive?
Certainly in the senate elections. Perhaps they could unite where they essentially ran against each other, such as in Olomouc, where ODS and KDU-ČSL faced each other. I think they could have combined in this direction as well. And certainly not to behave like, for example, in the Karlovy Vary region, where people from STAN fought against each other for a long time and it turned out badly for everyone. So there I think unity would be more appropriate.
And who would you most like to welcome as mayor of Prague?
I am, of course, a TOTAL candidate, so I respect my ideological affiliation with them. I would be happy if TOGETHER generated a mayor from its ranks. I probably wouldn’t want Mr. Hřib to remain at the helm.