Prague, July 10 (CTK) – The national executive committee of ANO, the Czech senior government party, has approved its lists of candidates for the October Senate and local elections in all wards except for Prague where Patrik Nacher may be replaced as the proposed election leader, Jaroslav Faltynek said on Friday.
Faltynek, ANO deputy chairman nd head of the ANO deputies’ group, was talking to journalists after a meeting of the executive committee, which is ANO’s broad leadership, which, he said, approved the lists of candidates almost unchanged as proposed by the party’s regional branches.
The committee replaced none of the proposed ANO election leaders in big towns, Faltynek said.
Agreement is yet to be reached on who should lead the party in the local elections in the capital of Prague.
Patrik Nacher was previously chosen as leader by the rank-and-file of ANO’s Prague branch. However, the party statutes enable the party leadership to change the lists of candidates.
Most recently, media speculated that Nacher might be replaced as ANO’s number one candidate in Prague because of his criticism of the ANO leadership.
According to daily Pravo, he might be replaced with entrepreneur Petr Stuchlik, the founder of Fincentrum, a financial consulting company.
Faltynek told the media that the executive committee had unanimously approved a ban on the accumulation of posts. The candidates from among lower house deputies, who would gain the post of a town mayor or councillor in the upcoming elections, will have to choose one from the posts to keep.
ANO’s fielding of a candidate was also complicated in Prague before the previous local elections four years ago. Originally, the number one candidate was to be former mayor Jan Kasl. Another variant was entrepreneur Martina Schopperova, but finally the election leader was Adriana Krnacova, who became Prague mayor after ANO’s victory, but who is not seeking re-election now.
In the Senate elections, one third (27) of the upper house’s 81 seats will be contested in October.
