Prague, Oct 9 (CTK) – Czech right-wing opposition TOP 09 chairman Miroslav Kalousek will ask his party to take a secret vote on his remaining in the post after the party’s failure in the October 7-8 regional elections, he has written on Twitter.
On Saturday, Kalousek said he is dissatisfied with the result of the regional elections, which were a failure for his party, and with the results of the simultaneous first round of the contest of 27 Senate seats, in which three TOP 09 candidates advanced to the second round.
Kalousek, former finance minister in 2007-2013, said TOP 09 failed to persuade its supporters to take part in the elections. He said he would not give up the party chairmanship, but later, on Twitter, he admitted he might leave.
“I will ask the question and I will ask for a (secret) vote to be taken on it,” he wrote.
It ensues from his words that he will initiate the vote at a meeting of the TOP 09 executive committee.
He wrote he will accept the vote’s result.
Running either separately or as part of election coalitions, TOP won some two dozen seats out of the total of contested 675 seats in the assemblies in the 13 self-rule regions.
“Unlike in the previous regional election in 2012, this time we did not run together with the Mayors and the Independents (STAN) movement. We wanted to strengthen our positions, which we failed to do, but we did not suffer a loss, unlike many other parties,” Kalousek said.
TOP 09 had a greater ambition but its election result is no fiasco, Kalousek said.
He said TOP 09’s election potential is far stronger than what the election showed.
“It is a huge challenge for us to try to persuade voters until the next election that the discussion on Facebook, Twitter and social networks is immensely important and belongs to civic society, but still it is necessary to turn up in a polling station and cast one’s ballot. Otherwise the victory goes to others,” Kalousek said.
