Prague, April 11 (CTK) – The Christian Democratic Union-Czech People’s Party (KDU-CSL) and the Mayors and Independents (STAN) movement are to sign a coalition agreement on their cooperation in the autumn general election on Wednesday, KDU-CSL spokesman Petra Hrusova announced yesterday.
The negotiations about an election coalition lasted approximately three months. In late March, the representatives of both parties approved the coalition pact at separate meetings.
Some KDU-CSL politicians challenged the plan because a coalition of two parties needs to win at least 10 percent of the vote to enter the Chamber of Deputies, while a single party must get minimally 5 percent to be successful in the elections. They said the KDU-CSL might fail in the elections due its alliance with STAN.
Opinion polls indicated that the junior government KDU-CSL would win more than 5 percent of the vote, but the centrist opposition STAN would remain below the 5-percent threshold to enter parliament.
According to Czech political analysts, the KDU/STAN alliance may become a significant player on the domestic political scene if it crosses the 10-percent threshold.
Late last year, STAN ended its alliance with the right-wing opposition TOP 09, with which it has been closely cooperating in both houses of Czech parliament from 2009. When seeking a new partner, STAN also addressed the KDU-CSL.
