Pirates broke up with Praha Sobě. The coalition with Spolu and STAN is on the decline
Representatives of Prague’s Spolu, Pirátů and STAN announced today that negotiations on a coalition on the government’s floor plan in the capital have progressed. He believes that the representatives of Prague will elect a new leadership on February 16. The parties will still fine-tune the details of the cooperation. The way to a possible agreement was opened by the departure of the Pirates from the Stability Alliance, which they concluded with Praha Sobě (PS). The representatives of the parties told journalists after today’s meeting.
Praha Sobě in a statement that it respects the decision of the Pirates, but does not consider the creation of a coalition to be good for the city. Negotiations on the new leadership of the capital have been going on for four months, which have passed since the municipal elections. The elections in Prague were won by Spolu (ODS, TOP 09 and KDU-ČSL) ahead of ANO and the Pirates.
“For a long time, we have perceived that Spolu rejects a coalition with PS, and STAN joined this opinion. We had a meeting of the club, where we discussed the details, and the club decided to leave the alliance in order to negotiate a new coalition,” said Jana Komrsková, representative of the Pirates.
Representative Zdeněk Zajíček (ODS) said that the negotiations have progressed to the point where the parties will be able to start preparing documents for the party bodies to approve draft coalition contracts and documents. “I think that at this moment we are already ready to elect a new leadership of Prague at the council meeting on February 16,” said Zajíček. Acting mayor Zdeněk Hřib (Pirates) stated that the election in February is the current plan, however, according to the agreed schedule, it is possible.
The parties have to fine-tune, for example, the division of competences that has been in place since the current state. “Of course that means some discussion,” said Zajíček. Key negotiations for this will take place this week.
The representatives of the parties agreed that the negotiations unblocked the concessions of Spolu from the original proposals for the distribution of contributions in the city council and at the same time the withdrawal of the Pirates from the alliance with Praha Sobě. The Pirates still have to decide on joining the coalition in an internal party vote. “Joining the coalition is decided by the regional forum of the Pirates,” said H želab. Together, STAN has already approved entry into the coalition within their party bodies.
In the past months, the parties disagreed, among other things, on the number of party representatives in the council. The Pirates and STAN resented Spolu’s original proposal, according to which Spolu would have six representatives in the 11-member line, including the mayor. They also rejected the proposal to create the mayor’s square for investment. According to the Pirates and STAN, councilors’ parts of competence would thus be taken away and, together with the minority in the council, they would only add to the total number. Again, the effort of the Pirates, and originally also STAN, to have Prague on its own in the council was a hindrance.
Praha Sobě stated in a press statement today that it respects the departure of the Pirates from the joint alliance. According to her, however, it will not be good for the city, because two directions of the city’s development will collide. “The pirates have just stuck their necks and the necks of their voters in a noose that will tighten for four years. At the same time, they fulfilled the dream of Prague’s political sleuths, that the Pirates and Praha Sobě would split into a coalition and an opposition. Nevertheless, we will try to help the Pirates and, of course, the people of Prague from the opposition,” the statement.
Negotiations on the new leadership of Prague lasted four months, the longest since the creation of the Czech Republic. Since the elections in the fall of 1994, the longest wait for the election of the new city leadership was a month and a half. In 2010, the council and mayor were elected 45 days after the election, four years later it took a day longer. In 1994 and 1998, the mayors were elected less than two weeks after the elections.
The Spolu coalition won the municipal elections last fall, winning 19 mandates in the 65-member council. ANO ended second with 14 mandates. The third Pirates have 13 representatives and Praha Sobě 11 mandates. Five representatives belong to STAN, the sixth SPD won three mandates. The current coalition in Prague consists of the Pirates, Praha Sobě and the United Forces for Prague.