The pirates are embarrassed. They have to decide what is important to them, says Svoboda
The coalition of ODS, KDU-ČSL and TOP 09 (Together) in the capital city has already rejected Mayor Jan Čižínský’s courtship with Praha Sobá several times. Mayoral candidate Bohuslav Svoboda (ODS) told Echo24 that the Pirates must decide whether a promise to Jan Čižinský or to their voters is more important to them. Together, they insist that Monday’s offer was only aimed at the Pirates and the STAN movement.
The parties have been unsuccessfully negotiating a new coalition in Prague since last fall. On Monday, when the winner of the elections, the Spolu coalition, offered the Pirates and STAN a concession in the form of six of the eleven members of the city councils, it already seems that an agreement on a coalition on the government plan is close. However, Wednesday’s meeting between the Pirates and the representatives of Prague Sobá proved to be another snag, which brought new nervousness into the negotiations.
The chairman of the association and the mayor of Prague 7, Jan Čižinský, said that he and the Pirates confirmed that their agreement from October, when they created the so-called Stability Alliance, is still valid. “We signed the Stability Alliance and it says that we will only advance together. It is necessary that Spolu respects this and does not assume that the Pirates do not keep their word.
Prague’s outgoing mayor Zdeněk Hřib (Pirates), who is still at the head of the city, did not refute these conclusions, but according to him, the whole situation must be evaluated by the representative club. He would also like to wait for the opinion of the STAN movement. The editors contacted its Prague chairman, Antonín Klecanda, but he did not respond to questions at the time of publication of the article.
The Spolu coalition, which has so far negotiated officially with Praha Sobě only once at the request of the Pirates, does not accept the possibility of cooperation. Its representatives repeated that they do not want to create a wider coalition than the government one. Four and two seats in the council were offered only to Pirates and STAN, confirmed Spolu leader Bohuslav Svoboda.
“If we are to govern in Prague, we want such an arrangement that will allow us to promote our program for which the voters voted for us. And it will logically be better fulfilled if there are fewer coalition partners – so fewer compromises will be needed. This is not about the number of people in the council, but about the coalition’s ability to act. And even the Pirates were elected by their voters because of their program, not because of the Alliance, which they purposefully created after the elections,” said the coalition candidate for mayor of Svoboda.
According to Svoboda, from the Pirates’ latest statement, the coalition understands that “although they are interested in continuing negotiations on a majority coalition on government ground, their side with the Praha Sobě movement is also continuing.” “Unfortunately, both are not possible at the same time. I think that the Pirates, led by Mr. Hřib, should make a decision as soon as possible, the promise they made to their voters or the promise to Jan Čižínský, which they did not even run for together, is more important for them,” added Svoboda. Further meetings are planned for Monday. The council, at which the new city management should be elected, is scheduled to meet on February 16.
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.