“Then go live with it.” Patrik Nacher cut down the Pirates. He sent them to work
ParlamentníListy.cz follows the negotiations and the events are discussed by ANO MP Patrik Nacher, who is the author of the idea to support the winners of the municipal elections (TOGETHER) until the end of February. According to him, the current situation has clearly shown that the Pirates and Prague (third and fourth place in the elections – without each other refused to form a coalition), the longer they remain in office, the better for them. “The longer they are there, the better for them because they are in positions. And in addition to the fact that these positions are paid, they have various advisers and other people around them that Prague and the Pirates installed at the municipality and in other companies, organizations and institutions,” Nacher told PL.
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He claims that this has been “beautifully exposed” by the current events, such as the fact that the longer the formation of the coalition takes, the more likely the “guilt” will be borne by the winner of the election (TOGETHER) and that the Pirates and the Prague group will “wash their hands”. “They staked out their terms and felt that TOGETHER couldn’t appeal to anyone other than YES, which wasn’t going to happen – they were counting on it. It’s nice to see that they don’t care about the election results. TOGETHER finished first, us second and them third and fourth, but they act like they won. They don’t accept the conditions of the first, they eliminate the second and basically say to the voters: You voted, but your vote is less valuable than the vote of our voters,” Nacher described his impressions and called it an unacceptable approach when the Pirates and Prague allegedly felt that that the current game can be played indefinitely, while the conditions will continue to play, because they say “there is no negotiation with the ANO movement in Prague”.
Marketing and manipulation
And they were said to be pleasantly surprised by their behavior during negotiations. “For me, Prague’s actions in particular are scandalous to a large extent, because they claim that the only clean coalition is the one where they are, even if no one cares about them. They refer to the support of the TOGETHER movement as a ‘dark bloc’ or an opposition pact and the like, and this ‘narrative’ is taken up by journalists who play this game. I find it incredible to create the impression that if the Pirates are not in the coalition, then there will be a tragedy. That’s what the people decided, and everyone else is able to come to an agreement,” he noted. In addition, he believes that the right coalition is discussed on the basis of the content vision of the direction of the city, as well as on mutual trust and personnel consensus. “Because they will be sitting next to each other for four years, making decisions, and they will have to trust each other, which was clearly the case before the elections and is also the case after the elections, that it won’t work in Prague for a long time.”
Nacher further warned that coalitions formed on a different principle and copying other floor plans or trying to exclude someone from the negotiations are unviable and will not work. “They will have a great life, coalitions cannot be formed like this and it clearly shows a different perception of politics,” he said. That is why he does not perceive as relevant the “arguments” of Zdenek Hřiba, the former pirate mayor of Prague, that TOGETHER should respect the result of the elections during negotiations. “The numbers are clear and everything else is manipulation. TOGETHER they got 19 mandates and the Pirates STAND 18. Already in the first grade I was taught that 18 is less than 19. I consider recalculation to a percentage as manipulation and a scandalous perception of politics. Percentages are one thing, and mandates are another,” said the member of the ANO movement, noting that the same logic could be used by all parties that did not make it to the Chamber of Deputies.
“They lost over a million votes and nobody represents them in the House, so they would like a representative. Respecting the majority is also respecting the elections. The fact that they don’t believe and want to count the votes for something else, or call the effort to make the city work an opposition contract – means that they are good at marketing, so let them make a living with that marketing, and not with politics. This is by no means an opposition agreement,” Patrik Nacher refused, saying that minority support and an opposition agreement are two different political things.
Nacher: Prague is ruled by three councilors who are not even representatives
He repeated that ANO wants to give the so-called minority council of the city the opportunity to function until the end of February and at the same time provide time to negotiate a coalition, which they will try to do. In the event of a classic coalition agreement – perhaps even on the government’s plan (ie ODS, KDU-ČSL, TOP 09, STAN and Pirátů) – the ANO movement would withdraw into the opposition. “The point is to be able to negotiate over two months and at the same time to have the people who rule Prague emerge from the current elections, who have the mandate to decide on the running of the city. I understand that it does not suit the Pirates and Prague that they do not have this mandate, but at the same time they would like to continue making decisions – but that is not how it works. That’s why elections exist,” he said. He also said that Pirates and Prague do not trust each other that the support of the ANO movement for the TOGETHER party will last until the end of February. The offer to support minority councils from ANO lasts until the end of December. Until then, both entities agree on how the cooperation will work.
Could the otherwise opposition ANO’s cooperation with the government parties in the Prague municipality develop into permanent cooperation? Nacher is said to be able to imagine it. “There are several scenarios, two of which are visible and tangible. First, that the minority tolerance of cooperation would turn into a classic coalition, or secondly, that a coalition on the government’s plan would be created in the meantime. I am identified with these possibilities and I am doing everything by the fact that the second scenario may occur,” he said.
Even if in the end the government parties come to an agreement and ANO ends up in the opposition, Nacher will not regret it. The reason is that if they agree on a minority council, then they were the ones who unblocked the situation even at the cost of eventually dropping out of the coalition from a long-term perspective. “But our role will forever be positive, how to move things forward and somehow legitimize decision-making about city management. It is possible to remain in the election after a month, but not three months. For Prague to be ruled by politicians from the previous elections and three councilors who are no longer representatives and did not even run for office… it is legal, but politically illegitimate. The council is then satisfied with the status, it cannot approve investments and the city stops. I firmly believe that as far as Mr. Hřib and Mr. Čižinský are concerned (the head of Prague to himself) really for the city, then they will support our minority council,” added Nacher.
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author: Zuzana Koulová