Prague, Nov 16 (CTK) – The ANO movement will support the nomination of Communist (KSCM) leader Vojtech Filip for the post of deputy chairman of the lower house of Czech parliament and the KSCM will support ANO MP Radek Vondracek nominated for the house’s chairman, Filip told journalists on Thursday.
Vondracek is the only candidate for the head of the Chamber of Deputies at the moment. He is likely to be elected at the house’s constituent session next week as Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) of Tomio Okamura and the Pirates said they would support him as well.
Filip was lower house deputy chairman in the past four-year election period and also in 2002-2010.
ANO lower house group’s chairman Jaroslav Faltynek said on Thursday ANO agreed that the KSCM would head of the lower house budgetary committee.
The Communists would also like to head the lower house commission for supervising the General Inspection of Security Forces (GIBS).
Filip said the KSCM wants the commissions monitoring the operation of intelligence and security services to be headed by opposition parties. “The ANO movement accepted this,” he said.
Filip repeatedly said the Communists do not plan to take part in a government headed by ANO leader Andrej Babis because the programmes of the two parties are very different. “The KSCM is not at all interested in forming a government together with the ANO movement,” he said.
However, the KSCM may tolerate the planned ANO minority government under certain conditions. After the next week constituent session, the KSCM is to present its demands related to the policy statement of the next government to ANO.
The Communists call for national referendums deciding on key issues, a permanent rise in the minimum wage and pensions, taxation imposed on the financial compensation that the state pays to churches for unreturned property, state control over water management and protection of mineral resources.
The KSCM also demands the introduction of progressive taxation, which ANO rejected. “This is naturally a problem for us,” Faltynek said.
He said ANO also received programme priorities from the Pirates and the SPD.
Faltynek confirmed that ANO does not want to form a government with the SPD and the KSCM. “We want to stay in NATO and to stay in the European Union as well,” he said.
According to its programme, the KSCM wants the Czech Republic to leave NATO. Okamura’s SPD calls for a national referendum that would be deciding on the country’s possible departure from the EU. Both demands are unacceptable for ANO, Faltynek said.
He said an agreement on the names of the lower house head and deputy heads seems to be arising.
Faltynek said ANO rejected the demand of two lower house deputy heads for the Democratic Bloc formed by four centrist and right-wing parties.
He said Social Democrat (CSSD) MP Jan Hamacek, the head of the house in the past election period, could be one of the deputy heads.
The Civic Democrats (ODS), the Christian Democrats (KDU-CSL), TOP 09 and the Mayors and Independents (STAN) formed the Democratic Bloc earlier this week.
Faltynek said the Bloc should get only one post of deputy head as it has 48 MPs in the 200-member Chamber.
