Emotions were running high in Parliament on Wednesday ahead of the no-confidence vote in Mirek Topolánek’s centre-right government. The government scored an important victory in the morning session, pushing through the 2009 draft state budget into a second reading. Following on from that initial victory, we spoke to Radio Prague’s Jan Richter, who has been following developments in Parliament:
Mirek Topolánek, photo: CTK
So Jan, what led to the last-minute change of agenda this morning? Why has the no-confidence vote been postponed?
“Yes, the crucial no-confidence vote requested by the opposition Social Democrats has not yet taken place. One of the reasons that this has not yet happened is because the MPs decided earlier today to return back to yesterday’s agenda, which was the draft of the state budget. And another reason which is apparently just as important is that they are trying to get all the media attention they can ahead of the second round of Senate elections, which is going to take place this weekend.”
And I hear that the events of this morning didn’t play out quite as expected for other reasons?
Jiří Paroubek (right), photo: CTK
“Yes, that’s true. The government actually scored a major victory ahead of the no-confidence vote. This was because yesterday the lower house of the Czech Parliament got into a somewhat awkward situation, because they were dealing with the draft of the state budget, and they neither rejected it, nor approved it. So they decided to return to it today. This morning, the opposition Social Democrats and the Communists suggested that the lower house return to the draft of the state budget, which was rejected by the government who, feeling very confident, wanted to proceed straight to the no-confidence vote. But in the end, it was the government who turned out victorious, they managed to push the draft of the state budget for next year through to a second reading with the help of some rebel opposition MPs.”
So is the atmosphere where you are right now quite celebratory, and how long is the no-confidence vote now likely to last?
Mirek Topolánek and Vlastimil Tlustý, photo: CTK
“Well, the fact that state budget did get pushed through was definitely a victory for the government. There was lots of cheering right after that. But the debate soon returned to speeches by politicians from both the opposition and the government, because everyone realizes how important the second round of elections to the Senate is. So they are now trying to advertise, really, their policies hoping that this will help their particular candidates. So it is really difficult to say when exactly the no-confidence will take place, but I’m quite sure it will happen today when politicians from all sides agree that they have done everything they can to support their candidates. Then, and only then, will the no-confidence vote take place.”
