Prague, Jan 17 (CTK) – Opposition TOP 09 leader Miroslav Kalousek’s plan to form a big alliance of Czech right-wing and centrist parties that would run in the autumn general election and oppose the ANO movement of Finance Minister Andrej Babis has failed, daily Hospodarske noviny (HN) wrote on Tuesday.
However, the Mayors and Independents (STAN) have made their own attempt to make a centrist alliance, which seems more promising.
STAN leader Petr Gazdik will meet representatives of 20 political groupings this week and try to persuade them to run together in the autumn election, the paper writes.
Last autumn, Kalousek suggested the creation of a centre-right bloc, but the Christian Democrats (junior ruling KDU-CSL) promptly rejected it and the Civic Democrats (right-wing opposition ODS) did so after some hesitation. In the meantime, the STAN ended its long-term alliance with TOP 09.
Kalousek wanted the bloc to be strong enough to fight billionaire Babis’s ANO. But the centre-right parties did not reach agreement on a joint programme and old discords discouraged them from allying, the paper writes.
“I respect this, but I suspect that there will be a competition for a junior partner of the non-systemic grouping that wants to change the character of the country,” Kalousek said, hinting at ANO.
He said TOP 09 is the only party that is not open to the possibility of forming a coalition government with Babis’s movement.
Kalousek was a member of the Christian Democrat leadership for many years. In 2006 he had to resign from the post of KDU-CSL chairman after he negotiated about a coalition government backed by the Communists (KSCM), which caused outrage among the rank and file. In 2009, Kalousek left the KDU-CSL and founded a new party, TOP 09. Being finance minister during the global financial crisis, he introduced a set of austerity measures, which has made him the most unpopular politician in the country.
The ODS seemed open to Kalousek’s plan at first, but its leader Petr Fiala eventually rejected it. “The right-wing parties have their histories as well as their personal relations and opinions of their members,” he said.
The ODS is rather Eurosceptic, while TOP 09 is pro-European. ODS founder Vaclav Klaus has never had friendly relations with Kalousek and TOP 09’s first chairman Karel Schwarzenberg.
Fiala challenged the view that the centre-right bloc would make the given parties more successful, HN writes.
The latest opinion polls showed that the ODS would win about 8 percent of the vote in the general election and TOP 09 around 5 percent, which is the threshold to enter parliament. The most popular party is ANO, followed by the Social Democrats (senior ruling CSSD) and the Communists.
The ODS cooperated with the extra-parliamentary Party of Entrepreneurs in the recent regional elections and the two parties are negotiating about further cooperation. The city-based TOP 09 is seeking support from regional groupings.
After the Mayors and Independents ended their close alliance with TOP 09 at the end of last year, they offered cooperation to independent groupings from all Czech regions, including joint lists of election candidates. Such cooperation would be good for the STAN also because it does not have enough charismatic politicians of its own, HN writes.
Gazdik addressed the Christian Democrats, the extra-parliamentary European Democrats, the Party of Entrepreneurs and 17 regional groupings.
“Based on our success in the regional elections (held last October), we have been trying to create a broader entity that would be able to compete with ANO and the CSSD. We unofficially call it the third force,” Gazdik told the paper.
If the right-wing parties managed to enter parliament in the autumn election, they would have a chance of participating in the next government. This is also why they seek partners, even very small ones, HN writes.
But if two parties form a coalition, they must win at least 10 percent to enter parliament. Three allied parties need to win at least 15 percent.
For this reason, regional governor Martin Puta (STAN) recommended that a new political grouping be formed.
STAN would like to reach a general agreement on election cooperation this month. If STAN joined forces with the KDU-CSL, their alliance would be likely to enter the Chamber of Deputies in all the 14 regions of the country. However, the Christian Democrats are rather cautious in this respect.
KDU-CSL chairman Pavel Belobradek said the joint project is an extraordinary opportunity but includes a lot of risks. “It may happen that a long-term process of communication will be launched and the result will come only next time,” he said, indicating that the STAN/KDU-CSL alliance might not be formed before the autumn election.
