Prague, Oct 10 (CTK) – The weekend regional elections brought the Czech junior government Christian Democrats (KDU-CSL) a relative success and a problem at the same time, both of which are called Jiri Cunek, daily Mlada fronta Dnes (MfD) writes yesterday.
Senator and Vsetin Mayor Cunek, 57, who won in the Zlin Region, in which the party is the strongest of all, has a chance of becoming the regional governor, MfD writes.
If this happens, he will be the party’s second regional governor.
The first was Stanislav Juranek, who became South Moravia governor in 2000 and defended the post four years later.
MfD writes that voters in the region take a different view of Cunek’s scandals from how they are seen “in Prague politics.”
Cunek became known when he moved Vsetin Romanies to porta cabins and he was charged with corruption. Though Cunek, then deputy prime minister, was suspiciously “saved” by some judiciary representatives, the party eventually was not returned to the Chamber of Deputies in 2010, MfD writes.
It adds that the KDU-CSL only succeeded again in the 2013 early general election.
Now, the party won 6.30 percent in the regional election. Cunek won 14,448 preferential votes, the biggest number of all candidates in the country, MfD writes.
It writes that the popular Cunek was a minister, deputy prime minister, party chairman and a regional assembly member in the past.
His scandals did eliminate him from regional politics, while he has been deleted from Prague politics and he has no party post even though he has spent the longest time of all KDU-CSL senators in the upper house of parliament, MfD writes.
It adds that Cunek is only a regular member of the party’s national committee.
Thanks to his popularity, he did not abide by his party’s national campaign before the regional elections and he put up the list of candidates in the Zlin region on his own, MfD writes.
It writes that it mainly consisted of mayors and representatives of towns and villages in the region.
Cunek perceives his election success as a satisfaction for his shameful departure from national politics, MfD writes.
“The guys in Prague who knew how to bribe the police and state attorneys made it hot for me,” he complained in the KDU-CSL headquarters in Zlin on Saturday, MfD writes.
