• Coalition a possibility
    10/27/2013

    In related news, ANO leader Andrej Babiš has said that a coalition between his party, the Social Democrats and the Christian Democrats was a possibility, providing the parties were able to find agreement on programme priorities. He made clear that if ANO entered into a coalition he was interested iin the post of finance minister. Mr Babiš stressed he had heard no word from the Social Democrats yet.
    Author: Jan Velinger

  • Poll: four-fifths of Czechs skeptical election results will resolve ongoing political crisis
    10/27/2013

    Four-fifths of Czechs do not think Saturday’s election results will resolve the ongoing political crisis, according to a new poll commissioned by public broadcaster Czech TV. On Saturday, the Social Democrats won the elections but far less decisively than many expected. Second in the election was ANO 2011, an upstart party led by billionaire businessman turned politician Andrej Babiš, which finished close behind the winners. Earlier on Saturday, Mr Babiš suggested he would not back a Social Democrat-led government, but his party has since changed tack. It is apparent that the winners, the Social Democrats, will, at the very least, face difficult negotiations in forming a ruling coalition or forming a minority government.
    Author: Jan Velinger

  • International media: Babiš the real winner
    10/27/2013

    International media such as the Financial Times reporting on the Czech election noted that Mr Babiš was the de facto winner on Saturday, as it was unlikely a stable government could be formed without his party’s consent (or less plausibly, the Communists’). Members of the right-wing parties formerly in government, such as TOP 09 leader Karel Schwarzenberg, said on Saturday they did not expect the next government to be a stable one. The former foreign minister suggested that the country could face early elections within two years. Both TOP 09 and the Civic Democrats (the latter suffering an historic defeat in the election) said they will head into opposition.
    Author: Jan Velinger

  • Sobotka says he will step down if he fails to put together government
    10/27/2013

    Social Democrat leader Bohuslav Sobotka has admitted that Saturday’s result was less than he or his party expected but said his party would nevertheless try and form a stable government, while upholding programme priorities. On Saturday, he said he would head a negotiating team that would meet with all of the parties in the lower house, with the exception of the right-of-centre TOP 09 and the Civic Democrats. He also said that if he failed to put together a new government, he would step down.

    On Saturday evening, members of the Social Democrats met for early talks with representatives of the Communist Party, including party leader Vojtěch Filip. The meeting lasted 45 minutes, and touched briefly on programme priorities and other areas, according to reports.
    Author: Jan Velinger

  • ANO’s Stropnický suggests there are grounds for negotiation with Social Democrats
    10/27/2013

    Martin Stropnický, an actor turned politician who ran for ANO 2011 which came in second on Saturday, has suggested that his grouping’s programme priorities are “61 percent compatible” with that of the Social Democrats. Speaking in a TV debate programme on commercial broadcaster TV Prima on Sunday, Mr Stropnický said that was grounds for “rational negotiation”. According to Stropnický, cooperation between the Social Democrats, the Christian Democrats (who successfully returned to the lower house after a 3.5 year absence) was a possibility. Political analysts, reflecting on Saturday’s results, have also suggested that a consensus between the three was more probable than other scenarios. There are suggestions that the three could form either a ruling coalition with a comfortable majority of 111 in the 200-member Chamber of Deputies, or that the Social Democrats could form a minority government with their backing.
    Author: Jan Velinger

  • Stalemate expected to play into president’s hands
    10/27/2013

    The election results, seen largely as continuing a stalemate in Czech politics, will play into the hands of President Miloš Zeman, pundits and numerous media suggest. Mr Zeman has been seen as trying to increase the powers of the presidency since assuming office and on Friday he suggested he could help the next prime minister-designate form a government if need be, an option rejected by the leaders of most of the parties in the lower house. In a post-election debate on Saturday, leaders, including deputy leader of the Civic Democrats Miroslava Němcova, suggested, such a role by the president was unacceptable.
    Author: Jan Velinger

  • Zeman assesses results
    10/27/2013

    On Czech TV on Sunday, President Zeman said the election results showed that both the former coalition as well as the former opposition had “failed”. But the president shrugged off any responsibility for the dismal result of Citizens’ Rights – Zemanites (founded in his name), by suggesting that backing by the head-of-state was a “kiss of death”. He compared earlier support that the late Václav Havel expressed for the Green Party or that his predecessor Václav Klaus expressed for a right-wing bloc this year, as examples. Citizens’ Rights – Zemanites picked up just 1.5 percent of the vote on Saturday, well below the five percent needed; it is the second time the party has failed to make it into the lower house.
    Author: Jan Velinger

  • Civic Democrats’ Pospíšil on election debacle
    10/27/2013

    In related news, Jiří Pospíšil, a deputy chairman of the Civic Democratic Party and former justice minister, has told news site iDnes that former president Václav Klaus’s support for the right-wing bloc Heads Up (or Chin Up) – which suffered defeat on Saturday - spelled his political end. The former minister also expressed disappointment that the former president had turned against the party he once led, referring to his actions as “mudslinging”.

    Regarding his own party’s dismal 7.7 percent result, Mr Pospíšil called it a “debacle” and said the Civic Democrats had been given a last chance to turn things around. He stressed that a new leadership would need to be elected and that the party – in opposition – needed to focus on quality politics. Mr Pospíšil is one of 16 Civic Democrat MPs elected on Saturday; previously the party had 53.
    Author: Jan Velinger

  • Tennis: Kvitová loses to Li Na in Istanbul
    10/27/2013

    Czech women’s tennis star Petra Kvitová lost to China’s Li Na in the WTA Championships semi-final on Saturday in Istanbul. Kvitová lost in straight sets: the final score was 4:6, 2:6.
    Author: Jan Velinger

  • Social Democrats win election
    10/26/2013

    The Social Democratic Party has won the country’s general election but failed to secure a decisive victory sought by party leader Bohuslav Sobotka. The party had hoped to gain one-third of the vote to form a stable minority government (tacitly-supported by the Communists). But with all of the ballots counted, the Social Democrats secured only 20.4 percent, making it clear the party will seek coalition talks with other potential coalition partners (with the apparent exception of right-of-centre TOP 09 and the Civic Democrats).

    There is no guarantee, however, that Mr Sobotka will get the nod from President Zeman to try and form the next government. The president made clear in the past that he would only choose a prime minister designate from the “winning party”, leading to speculation he could choose someone other than its leader, presumably from a more closely-aligned wing.
    Author: Jan Velinger

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