Prague, Oct 17 (CTK) – The success in the regional and Senate elections has prompted the Czech government Christian Democrats (KDU-CSL) and the opposition Mayors and Independents (STAN) movement’s debate on their tighter cooperation before the 2017 general election, daily Lidove noviny (LN) writes on Monday.
The KDU-CSL came third in the October 7-8 regional elections and it beat its government coalition partners, the Social Democrats (CSSD) and ANO movement, in the second round of the election to one third of the Senate at the weekend.
STAN, which previously ran in coalition with the rightist opposition TOP 09, with which it is bound by a cooperation agreement until the end of the year, in most cases, relied on its own candidates this time and fared well.
The chairmen of both parties, Pavel Belobradek (KDU-CSL) and Petr Gazdik (STAN) indicate that their parties’ coming close to one another is feasible.
“We perceive the family and the municipality similarly to the KDU-CSL. We share the opinion that Europe should return to its Jewish-Christian traditions,” Gazdik told LN.
However, both of them dismissed the speculations that official negotiations have already been held.
“Three years ago, the creation of an election bloc was discussed. Now, we will hold intensive debates on the theme during the next two months,” Belobradek said.
Referring to its source, LN writes that the two parties have well progressed in their negotiations.
By the end of the year, it should be clear whether a new party will be running in the general election, scheduled for the autumn 2017, including its leader and name, LN writes.
The two existing parties do not conceal their wish to win the general election next year, LN writes.
However, Belobradek wants to avoid the failure of the Quad-Coalition, within which the KDU-CSL cooperated with three other centre-right parties and which disintegrated after four years, LN writes.
The two parties would have to resolve certain problems if they wanted to cooperate. Some KDU-CSL members do not want the established abbreviation to disappear from the new entity’s name, LN writes.
It writes that the person of the national election leader should not be a KDU-CSL member.
“We want an independent person, for instance, a respected economist. Belobradek realises that they simply do not have a strong economist,” LN quotes a trustworthy STAN source as saying.
According to speculations, the proportion of KDU-CSL and STAN people on the lists of candidates should be 60-40, depending on which original party would be stronger in the given region, LN writes.
It writes that it is generally assumed that STAN is more successful in Bohemia, while the KDU-CSL is more supported in Moravia.
