Prague – the election of the mayor: According to political scientists, it is an embarrassment to Spolu
Coalition negotiations began immediately after the elections. Since then, representatives of the individual parties have been meeting continuously. It pushed together the formation of a coalition similar to that of the government, i.e. with Pirates and STAN, but the negotiation ended in failure. This year’s negotiations on the new city leadership are the longest in the history of Prague since 1993.
Prague representatives after many hours of discussion on Thursday evening, they suspended the election of the mayor until February 9, 2023. The interruption of the election of the mayor was supported by 55 of the total 65 representatives of the capital. Together, they originally agreed with the ANO movement that they would elect Bohuslav Svoboda (ODS) as mayor, but the other ten councilors would not vote.
Together and YES one vote was missing because councilor Hana Kordová Marvanová opposed the agreement (for Spolu), which bothers the way of election and cooperation with ANO. The Pirates, Praha Sobě were also opposed, and the SPD did not vote for the election either. Spolu won the elections in Prague ahead of ANO and Pirates. At the same time, three months after the elections, the coalition failed to establish a new government over Prague.
Intolerable
In addition to the people of Prague, the unclear situation is also closely monitored by political scientists, who are worried about it. “Many people have to ask themselves the question why a new mayor and new management of Prague have not yet been elected“, prominent political scientist Vladimíra Dvořáková told Blesk. It focuses primarily on how it is possible that the Pirates and the ODS found common ground at the national level, but not in Prague.
“I think they are mainly behind it personal relationships. In Prague, the Pirates and the ODS have been in opposing tendencies for a long time, even despite the fact that both sides distinguish themselves against ANO,” he says. “It can be even more confusing leaning Together to YES as part of the minority council elections.”
According to her, she is primarily behind it struggle to reach voters, which may not be a happy solution, especially from the perspective of the Together coalition. “It can be tolerated that negotiations on a governing coalition can be complicated, can take a long time. But until like this?” the political scientist pauses over the date of the new mayoral election, which is not expected to take place until February of next year. “I am afraid that the voters who cast their vote in Prague Together are not very satisfied with the development of the post-election situation,” added Vladimíra Dvořáková.
Disgrace
Another political scientist did not go far for harsh words, who described the actions of the Spolu coalition with an indiscriminate term. “We find ourselves a quarter of a year after the elections. It is disgrace. It speaks of her unprofessionalism,” commented political scientist Lukáš Jelínek on the manner of post-election courtship. why? “Together, they had to be aware that when agreeing with ANO, they should cooperate based on a single vote,” alludes to the fact that Together with ANO have a total of 33 representatives out of 65.
“It is all the more surprising that they lost a decisive voice in their own ranks, because in the coalition they have Hana Kordová Marvanová, who prioritized moral principles and her own convictions over politics. The most interesting thing about this situation is that Together, it declared in advance something that was not even able to ensure,Jelínek continues. According to him, 3 variants are emerging now, but none of them is completely probable.
“Together he can try to talk STAN into approving them if he still wants a minority council with YES support. At the same time, you can either persuade Hana Kordová Marvanová or ask her not to she gave up her mandate as a representative, which seems unlikely to me,” said the political scientist. “They can also seek support from the SPD, but that would be enough with regard to national politics bizarre.” They would most likely look like that another courtship between Spolu, STAN and Pirates. But under what conditions?
“Weak Mayor”
During the past council, a number of questions were literally rained down on the leader of the Spolu coalition and the most likely candidate for mayor, Bohuslav Svoboda (ODS). Ten he didn’t answer for a long time, even for him others stood up for her policy from ANO. Which Jelínek could not fail to notice.
“It is confirmed that Bohuslav Svoboda would rather be a weak mayor. Although he has been in politics for a long time, opinions for Spolu are far more often formulated by others, whether it is the chairman of the representative club Zdeněk Zajíček or the regional chairman of the ODS Marek Benda,” he realizes. According to him, the whole situation is particularly harmful to Spolu and, on the contrary, hurts the Pirates and Prague itself. “For Spolu voters, it must be about unprofessional embarrassment when the whiners can’t give way to the Pirates, nor can they secure the votes of their own coalition. In contrast, the Pirates and Prague coalition will continue to lead Prague until at least February.”
The situation is solved by the national leaders
“The blocked situation in Prague does not please anyone. That is also why we met again with the representatives of Prague’s Spoluto discuss how to get out of this situation. We agreed on the fact that we perceive the citizens, and therefore we want to seek cooperation on the government ground plan. Such a solution requires the will of both parties, including the Prague Pirates and STAN,” said Fiala on Twitter. She held the meeting after her return from the European summit in Brussels.
Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Starosts Vít Rakušan told ČTK that unequivocally approves the progress of the Prague STAN movement. “Colleagues, from the beginning, try to find a solution that would be functional and would not trample on the will of the voters. I welcome the fact that the Prague regional committee does not want a Prague coalition based on ANO or even the SPD,” he said. According to him, the leader Petr Hlaváček confirmed in the negotiations that he is not only an expert on territorial development, but also a principled and experienced politician. “I believe that his colleagues from other potential coalition parties will soon imitate his approach,” he said.
Key votes from the SPD line?
According to the head of the movement, Tomio Okamura, the SPD wishes that the new council composed of the current representatives is already functioning. The movement is ready to deal with Together and YES. “The SPD has always been critical of the Pirates, and I blame Prague for the current state of the city administration and its decline in all areas,” he said. Thursday’s vote was a matter of the Together and YES agreement, he added. “It worked out fiasco and embarrassment. I believe that many citizens of Prague already regret how they voted. We are ready to officially negotiate with Spolu and ANO and help end this deadlock,” Okamura told ČTK.
7 things you did not know or the powers of the mayor Videohub
![Continuation of the already twice interrupted constitutive meeting of the Prague council. (December 15, 2022) Continuation of the already twice interrupted constitutive meeting of the Prague council. (December 15, 2022)](https://1884403144.rsc.cdn77.org/foto/praha-ustavujici-jednani-zastupitelstvo-volba-primatora/NjIweDMyOC9jZW50ZXIvdG9wL3NtYXJ0L2ZpbHRlcnM6cXVhbGl0eSg4NSkvaW1n/8086937.jpg?v=0&st=YLWYV6oDJeZNZvQo21nyqcwBafJCgYPpNTq-SJYDkOM&ts=1600812000&e=0)
Continuation of the already twice interrupted constitutive meeting of the Prague council. (December 15, 2022)
Author: ČTK / Šulová Kateřina