Will we ever get a deal? Negotiations on the new leadership of Prague are stalling again
Four months after the municipal elections, Prague still has no new leadership. After the negotiating teams boasted at the beginning of the week that they had finally managed to break the ice, they appear to be deadlocked again. Pirates and Spolu, victorious in the elections, continue to argue about whether to invite the Prague movement to join them.
More than a quarter of a year has passed since the elections, but the metropolis is still ruled by the old council headed by Mayor Zdenek Hřibe (Pirates). And it looks like it will continue for some time. “I’ve been standing here waiting for four months for Spolu, as the winner of the elections, to agree on the coalition. Unfortunately, the first meaningful offer from Spolu came to us on Monday,” said Hřib.
But only one part of the offer from Spolu seems to make sense to the Pirates, when the coalition offers the Pirates and STAN a majority in the new council. The fact that Spolu wants to discuss this form of council only in the event that Prague will not be part of it doesn’t make much sense to them anymore.
“I really still don’t understand what the problem is with Prague itself. Considering that the five seats remain for Spolu, it doesn’t seem important to me if there are three or two coalition partners,” Hřib wondered.
”We think that in the coalition on the government’s plan, those are feasible. The Spolu coalition proved that it is possible to make concessions, and now I think that concessions should be made by others,” said Zdeněk Zajíček (ODS), a member of the Spolu negotiating team.
“The only option we are working with at the moment is Spolu, Piráti and STAN. The relationship between the Pirates and Prague needs to be resolved once and for all. But it really goes to the Pirates,” summarized Jan Lacina (STAN), a member of the negotiation team. “It’s not really up to us, it’s about how Spolu proceeds,” responded Hřib.
Apparently, even Prague is not going to stop striving for seats in the council through the post-election alliance with the Pirates. “There are two views of the city. ODS has the ultra-conservative one, we have the modern one. Neither of them got a majority in the elections. We need to sit down at the same table,” said Jan Čižinský (Prague sebo).
Negotiation teams have been discussing what the city leadership will look like for a record 117 days, more than 2.5 times the previous record from 2014, when the composition of the new coalition in Prague was resolved in 46 days.
The law does not say anything about how long after the election a new council must be established. In theory, an unelected mayor and council can rule until the next election. Even the national leadership of the individual parties is apparently not going to intervene.
“It is the main negotiator, that means the Together movement, that it is impossible to put an offer on the table in four months from which one could push away,” commented Marcel Kolaja (Pirates).
“The Spolu coalition made a number of concessions. In order for it to turn out well, the will of the other partner must also be there,” said Prime Minister Petr Fiala (ODS). The next meeting of the Spolu, Pirátů and Stan negotiation teams is planned for Monday.
TN.cz