Kocourkov. This cannot be explained to people. Free about electricity and current government
You are a former representative of Prague. How do you perceive the current events surrounding the efforts to form a coalition in the capital?
From my point of view, the current political situation in Prague is absolutely sad. We are already two months after the election. Not only is there no coalition, but according to available information, we are not even close to it. Personally, as a citizen of Prague, I am disillusioned with this situation. At a time when it is necessary to properly prepare the budget for the next year, which is not exactly an easy task in view of the current economic situation, strategic decisions are postponed and, on the contrary, only non-conflicting compromise resolutions are adopted. This will only result in the stagnation of our beautiful capital city. And starting the development will then take all the longer.
What does it say that no agreement has yet been reached?
Above all, it says that some of the elected politicians are not concerned with Prague as such, but mainly with their own benefit and visibility. I don’t understand how those less successful in this year’s elections, such as the Pirates and Praha, can dictate terms and de facto give ultimatums to the winner of the election. These two activist groups, which united into one bloc after the elections, are taking all the citizens of Prague hostage. This has nothing to do with responsible politics. At the same time, this situation should trigger a society-wide debate on whether it is time to change the electoral system. Elections to municipal councils are complicated and confusing from the point of view of voters. The preference of candidates and their change of order on a given candidate list are not decided by the voters of the given grouping, but by the voters of competing political parties and movements. Personally, I would also be in favor of a bonus for the election winners, so that the post-election negotiations would be simplified and we would not end up in the situation we are experiencing now in Prague.
Czechs face rising prices for energy, food, services and fuel. And the culprits differ depending on the point of view or political party – Putin and the war in Ukraine, the Green Deal, the previous government of Andrej Babiš and so on. Where do you see the main causes?
The current unfavorable economic situation is of course a combination of all the mentioned culprits. You can’t put one negative influence in the foreground and leave the others behind. And unfortunately, the current government of Prime Minister Petr Fiala is not helping the whole situation at all. When we look at economic indicators and statistics, our republic moves unflatteringly at the bottom of the charts. The government is not flexible and vigorous enough, instead it often takes completely confused steps and behaves like the proverbial elephant in the porcelain.
It is true that the figures in the Czech Republic are among the worst results, even though many other countries suffer from the same problems, whether it is inflation or the prices of gas or electricity, but also gasoline. How do you explain it and to what extent is the previous and current government to blame?
I would put the responsibility between the previous and current government half and half, so the boys don’t argue. Babiš’s government did not behave like a proper householder. During the time of economic growth, she threw money away in a populist manner and did not think at all about the future and that economically worse times may come. That is, the style of governance is a flood for me. With the current government, it can be seen that the only thing that unites this association is the topic of Antibabiš. It follows that they cannot quickly find a consensus on the key solution to the problem. Instead, they quietly step on the spot so that one entity does not find the other, and in the meantime, a number of Czechs get into existing problems.
Today, ODS politicians almost unanimously claim that, in addition to Russia, the European Union’s Green Deal plan is behind the energy crisis without a well-thought-out replacement of rejected energy sources. Do you share this opinion? How should the Czech Republic position itself vis-à-vis the European Union in this issue?
On the one hand, I am pleased that ODS politicians are starting to see things as they really are. On the other hand, I’m sorry that the ODS realized it was too late, when people already know about them. As for the Green Deal, Svobodní have been drawing attention to its lack of thought and “harm” for citizens for many years. We can only believe that other states will also begin to realize that the Green Deal is a path to destruction and the European Union will blow the whistle on this plan.
Before the elections, the current government promised change, decent politics without corruption, responsible management of state finances. In contrast, ex-minister of finance Miroslav Kalousek said that he would ritually shoot himself for the form of the current budget. How do politicians manage to fulfill their promises after a year of government?
Do you see decent politics without corruption or responsible management of state finances? Well, I don’t. Corruption scandals are increasing, whether it is the STAN movement and, for example, the Dosimeter case, or perhaps ODS in the case of the Brno flats case. And I have already talked about responsible financial management, the confusion and inaction cannot be called responsibility. Thus, the government is definitely not fulfilling its promises, which can also be seen in the growing dissatisfaction, see frequent anti-government demonstrations, and the electoral preferences of citizens and positional movements ANO SPD are appropriate.
The price of electricity produced in the Czech Republic is still determined by the German stock exchange, despite the fact that only a small percentage of Czech production goes there for sale. According to some opinions, leaving is impossible and too costly, according to opponents it is necessary. Czech electricity remains the most expensive in Europe, but the Czechia is also one of the largest exporters in the world. What with this?
This is a completely schizophrenic situation. We will produce electricity, which we will sell abroad cheaply, in order to then buy electricity from abroad at a high price. A ready-made cat that cannot be explained to an ordinary person who does not have high deposits to pay. However, the situation does not have a simple solution with regard to our obligations in the European Union. It is very simple populist to shout in the squares that we will consume the electricity we produce in the Czech Republic. But none of these people are talking about the consequences that would affect the Czech economy. As I already said before the autumn elections, here is the key role of Prime Minister Fiala, who must conduct active negotiations within the European Union and come up with proposals for solutions. No one else will do it, because the impact of energy prices is not as brutal in other countries as it is here. Unfortunately, so far I can only see him reacting in the negotiations regarding Ukraine, Prime Minister Fiala may break in on that, but he is more than passive regarding electricity.
Two years ago, we spoke together about Czech Television and its objectivity. What has changed in that time?
Paradoxically, since our last interview on the subject of Czech Television, the situation regarding the independence and objectivity of this public media is still being planned. Space is given only to the chosen ones, the others are unlucky, in the worst case they are even dishonored. Czech Television does not accept criticism against itself. Freedom of expression is slowly being replaced by censorship under the pretext of truthful information.
Czech Television will have to defend itself in court. The lawsuit will be filed by the Zdravé forum platform, whose members were labeled disinformers in the report and were not given the opportunity to express themselves in any way. Director Petr Dvořák once again asked the Board of Czech Television to draw consequences, but the board had to, the next result is unknown. The website operator and former Exanpro.cz reporter Jiří Wagner also filed a criminal complaint canceled for similar reasons. How do you perceive it and will there be more similar cases?
As long as there is a public media with mandatory collection of concessionaire fees, similar cases will definitely increase. As a concessionaire, I have the right to react to a broadcast report that affects me personally and I consider it to be false, and also the possibility to inform citizens through this medium about my activities in a similar time frame as other groups receive.
More than two dozen websites were blocked without a decision by the police or the court. The Ministry of the Interior intends to introduce monitoring of civil servants who are said to be radicalising. Thus, Vít Rakušan (STAN) launched a fight against disinformation, with which, according to him, we are at war. When we look back 33 years after the recent holiday on November 17, how does the Czech Republic manage to maintain freedom of expression and respect for different opinions?
In previous answers, I have already indicated that I personally think that free speech is disappearing from the public space. Although I may not agree with a different opinion, I should let it be heard and refute it with rational arguments in the discussion. Unfortunately, this has not been happening lately. We are de facto presented with only one truth, which must not be disputed, as if someone were afraid of discussion. And obviously I am not alone in this feeling, it is always enough to mention the Society for the Defense of Freedom of Expression, which deals with this issue and the activities of this association are very sympathetic and close to me.
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author: Zuzana Koulová