Command the whole city yourself? After all, the election result Spolu does not correspond to that at all, comments Hřib at the post-election meeting in Prague
Prague has never waited so long after an election. Why is it taking so long this time?
You should primarily ask the winner of the election, i.e. the Spolu coalition, because the winner of the election has the primary responsibility for negotiations as such in a proportional system. But I dare to say that negotiations could radically accelerate the moment Spolu comes to terms with the election result, i.e. that they didn’t get 40%, as they drew it a few months ago, but only less than 25%.
With such a result, you really cannot command the entire city by yourself. You simply have to look for a coalition partner in a majority system. We are open to this, but it is really impossible to have both the mayor and the majority in the Council at the same time with such a result.
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Is that the stumbling block from your point of view?
Clearly. When you look at the election results and count the votes, you can clearly see that even the Pirates alone together with STAN have now won more votes than the Spolu coalition in the Prague municipal elections.
Sorry to interrupt you. The main thing that matters to you is that you count on the fact that they will be together, and therefore you don’t want the mayor to have a majority in the Council.
Yes. I think that this is a completely logical request, because the mayor has the right of veto. The Mayor can never be overruled by his Council, as he can decide to veto if necessary. So quite logically, the other counterweight, i.e. the majority in the Council, should not be on the side of Spolu. Not to mention that even the votes in the election speak quite clearly.
Is this the only obstacle to establishing a coalition on the government’s plan, as, for example, the Prime Minister and head of the ODS, Petr Fiala, would like?
We are still part of the Stability Alliance, but I dare say that is not the main problem. The basic problem is the current demand of the Together coalition of both the mayor and the majority in the Council, and all this with a result of less than 25%, it simply does not correspond. This matter will be resolved immediately, negotiations will be very quick.
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Unfortunately, I do not see any activity on the part of the winner of the election, who should primarily lead the meeting, try to actively convene, act every day. Nothing like that is happening compared to what happened four years ago. No, that’s why it takes so much longer.
To what extent can personal animosities, for example, complicate the situation?
I don’t think personal animosity comes into it now. I really see it as a fundamental problem that he cannot have the mayor and the majority in the Council at the same time, if I still have less than a quarter of the votes of the voters who came to the polls.
44% of eligible voters came to vote, so that’s actually roughly 11% of all eligible voters. That’s not really a result you can single-handedly command the whole city with. With such a result, it is simply not legitimate to have absolute rule over the entire city.
And do you see any major program disagreements with the Together coalition?
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If a coalition is formed, we will certainly clash on ideological lines. But Spolu really faces a clear choice now. So either they accept that with a result of less than 25% they cannot command the entire city by themselves, and they choose a coalition with the democratic parties. Or will the variant begin, which they are apparently already counting on, as Bohuslav Sobotka told the media, that on 15 December they will make a kind of minority opposition agreement with the help of the votes of the ANO movement.
And you will be patiently waiting until December 15, how will it turn out?
No, we are active in matters. We repeatedly offered concessions. We definitely want to meet again, but as I say, the problem is really that simple.
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