Okamura to appeal to rebel MPs to return to fold or give up their mandates

Side-lined Dawn party leader Tomio Okamura and the former head of the movement’s deputies’ group, Radim Fiala, are planning to address tearaway MPs who voted this week to found a new political party. At a press conference on Thursday, the politicians will appeal to MPs to either return to the fold or to leave Dawn and resign their seats in the Chamber of Deputies. Mr Fiala said “relatively radical” measures would be needed if rebel MPs failed to step down although no mechanism exists to force their hand. The MPs want to found a new party they say will “defend national interests”, styled after France’s far-right National Front. Dawn is the smallest party in the Czech Chamber of Deputies.