Future Czech government line-up on hold, as police investigate ministerial candidate for hate speech
Czech election winner, Andrej Babiš, is fighting an uphill battle to form a government in the face of a major scandal involving one of his potential coalition partners. Filip Turek from the Motorists’ party, who was a hot candidate for the post of foreign minister, is being investigated for hate speech, with fresh allegations against him cropping up every day.
Less than a fortnight after ANO’s triumphant victory in Czechia’s general elections, it is not party leader Andrej Babiš who is in the media spotlight as the potential next prime minister, but the honorary chair of the smaller Motorists’ party, Filip Turek, whose past activities on social media now threaten to derail the coalition talks.
The police have started investigating a report by Denik N which published what it alleged were Turek’s deleted Facebook posts, containing openly racist, sexist and homophobic comments that made headlines at home and abroad.
In a separate incident from 2017, reported on by Czech Radio, Turek is said to have threatened an employee of the Saudi Arabian embassy. Czech Radio, which claims to have access to police files on the case, says that Turek placed a crude drawing of a gallows under the windshield wiper of the employee’s car in a shared garage, while a cartridge was found on the vehicle’s roof. The incident was investigated by police at the time and Turek, who was caught on a security camera, argued that he had left the message as a warning, because the occupant of the car had allegedly followed his girlfriend in the street. The matter was closed with a fine.
Turek claims the news reports are part of a smear campaign against him orchestrated by those who want to throw a spanner in the works of the emerging coalition government. Although he apologized for some of the posts on social media, he denies authorship of others, and his party has filed a criminal complaint over the Denik N article.
While Turek’s party is standing behind him and both ANO and SPD have given him time to explain the matter, it is obvious that he has become a liability and a potential major complication for the emerging government. At the same time, without the Motorists and the SPD, ANO would not have a majority in the lower house, which puts Babiš in a tricky position.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, ANO deputy chair Alena Schillerová was clearly relieved that the matter is now in the hands of the police.
“We are very glad that this case is being investigated by the police. We fully trust them to get to the bottom of the matter and we have to wait and see what their investigation leads to. The allegations in the media are very serious and we do not underestimate the gravity of the situation, but the matter is now under police investigation.”
President Petr Pavel stated that if the allegations prove to be true, Turek would be disqualified from holding any ministerial position. He said it was up to Andrej Babiš to consider whether it is worth risking a major embarrassment if the posts prove to be authentic.
The reports have caused an outcry from the ruling parties, who say that nominating Turek to the post of foreign minister, or any other minister, is unthinkable and would cause irreparable harm to the country’s reputation. A flash poll suggests that close to half of Czechs think he should quit politics altogether.
As the scandal continues to fill the front pages of Czech dailies, Babiš is focusing on putting together the future government’s policy program, having shelved personnel matters until mid-November.
By that time, the ANO leader will have to resolve the question of what to do about Turek that will not alienate a party that his government-in-the-making relies on.
And, while he is complaining about what he calls the “minefield” in public finances left by the outgoing administration, he must be aware that the real minefield lies in the make-up of the future coalition government.
