Complications for the municipal coalition. Pirates continue to insist on cooperation with Praha Sobě
The Prague Pirates and Praha Sobá agreed on Wednesday that they will no longer be part of the Alliance of Stability, which they concluded and in which they proceed uniformly in the magistrate’s negotiations on the coalition. The parties also agreed that it makes sense to continue negotiating the conditions for the creation of a municipal coalition, which were presented to the Pirates and STAN by the winning coalition Spolu (ODS, TOP 09 and KDU-ČSL) and in which Prague Sobě refuses to participate. Mayor Zdeněk Hřib (Pirates) and leader of Prague Sobé Jan Čižinský told journalists. On Monday, the Spolu coalition submitted an offer to the Pirates and STAN, according to which the Pirates won four and STAN two seats in the eleven-member councils, Spolu would have five seats, including the mayor.
“In the Stability Alliance, we discussed the next course of action. It certainly makes sense to deal with the offer together, because it is an offer that goes in the right direction. The alliance lasts, we know very well why we concluded it. The voters of Prague Sobě and the Pirates want more or less the same direction of the city, and therefore it makes sense for the alliance to continue,” said Čižinský. Hřib added that he still does not understand what kind of problem the Spolu coalition has with Praha Sobě.
Together, he has long rejected the participation of Prague Sobě in the coalition and states in statements that he is negotiating a coalition only with the Pirates, not with the Stability Alliance. “We respect the sovereignty of Spolu, and that should respect the sovereignty of our entities that make up the alliance,” said Čižinský. According to him, the easiest way to create a coalition is to convene a meeting of Spolu, Pirátů, STAN and Prague Sobě and create a broad coalition.
At Monday’s press conference, STAN representatives stated that it would be possible to create a coalition of Together, Pirátů and STAN, and that Praha Sobě would fill positions in important committees. Čižinsky refused this. “We have a very clear idea, there needs to be a coalition and an opposition, so that there is a clear line. We will certainly not allow any opposition agreement to be used,” said Čižinský.
According to Hřiba, the pirates must now agree on the next course of action within the representative club. Hřib did not want to anticipate his decision. “The club has 13 people, so it’s hard for me to say now,” he said.
Negotiations on the new leadership of the capital city last almost four months, the longest since the Czech Republic was established. One of the main points of contention was the Together coalition’s demand to have a majority in the council, which it backed away from on Monday, unblocking the negotiations. 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.