Prague, Aug 1 (CTK) – All Christian Democrat (KDU-CSL) members of the Chamber of Deputies will be defending their parliamentary seats in the general election due on October 20-21, KDU-CSL election manager Marian Jurecka, the current Czech agriculture minister, told journalists today.
The Christian Democratic Union will run in the elections as an independent party since its coalition with the Mayors and Independents (STAN) disintegrated one week ago.
The KDU-CSL national committee approved the party’s lists of election candidates for all regions of the country today.
However, KDU-CSL leader Pavel Belobradek said he is still negotiating with personalities who might be added to the lists before the expiration of the deadline in mid-August.
Belobradek is the election leader in Hradec Kralove Region and Jurecka in the Olomouc Region.
Culture Minister Daniel Herman leads the Prague list of candidates, KDU-CSL parliamentary group’s head Jiri Mihola is number one in South Moravia Region, party deputy chairman Jan Bartosek is the leader in South Bohemia Region and MP Ivan Gabal in Central Bohemia Region.
The party’s election slogan is “Responsibly.” This slogan is very similar to that of the STAN.
“The word ‘responsibly’ reflects what we present in the long term – conservative politics, which means a responsible solidarity,” Belobradek said.
Next week, the Christian Democrats will present their election programme and their new billboards are to appear all over the country, Jurecka said.
The KDU-CSL has 14 members in the 200-seat Chamber of Deputies. It is the smallest partner in the centre-left government of Bohuslav Sobotka (Social Democrats, CSSD), which includes also the ANO movement of rich businessman Andrej Babis. ANO is the clear favourite of the forthcoming election.
The KDU-CSL formed a coalition with the centrist opposition STAN earlier this year, but it withdrew from the project two weeks ago because opinion polls showed that it might fail in the election.
A two-party coalition needs to win at least 10 percent of the vote to enter the Chamber, while the threshold for individual parties is 5 percent, which the KDU-CSL seems likely to overcome.
Last week, the STAN rejected the Christian Democrats’ offer that its politicians run on their lists of candidates. Such cooperation would have meant that the alliance would only have to cross the 5-percent barrier.
kva/dr
