Prague, Oct 11 (CTK) – Miroslav Kalousek, chairman of the Czech rightist opposition TOP 09, is ready to continue leading the party, but he wants to check with representatives of regions and executive committee members next week that his decision is correct after the recent regional election, he said yesterday.
TOP 09 defended 19 mandates in regional assemblies even though it did not run in coalition with the Mayors and Independents (STAN) like in previous elections, but it only gained less than 3.5 percent of the vote, compared to 9.45 percent for its rival, the rightist opposition Civic Democrats (ODS).
Three of its candidates advanced to the Senate run-off vote.
Kalousek said yesterday’s meeting of the party presidium did not speak about personnel matters at all and that the party must find a way to better explain its programme priorities to voters by the 2017 general election.
Kalousek said yesterday the election results are a failure. “Though we have not lost any mandate, they (the results) cannot be called success. We lost the elections,” he said after a meeting of the party presidium.
Kalousek said he does not think that the forming of coalitions without the winning ANO in some regions circumvents the winner.
“Coalitions are formed with the aim of putting together a majority. If a majority of the duly elected assembly members forms a coalition, no one is bypassed,” Kalousek said.
