Prague, Jan 23 (CTK) – Matej Stropnicky, Prague deputy and former deputy mayor of Prague, was elected chairman of the Green Party for the next two years, having beaten Mayor of Prague 4 Petr Stepanek and teacher Jan Slechta in the frist round Saturday.
Stropnicky was supported by 117 out of 222 votes, while he needed 112 votes to win.
Stepanek gained 97 and Slechta six votes.
Irena Moudra Wuenschova, physician from Usti nad Labem, north Bohemia, was elected first deputy chairperson of the party. She won 136 out of 214 votes, her rival Monika Horakova only 72 votes.
According to the party’s statutes, the first deputy chairperaon must be a woman since the chairperson is a man.
Stropnicky replaces local politician Jana Drapalova who was not defending the post.
In the past, the party was headed by Ondrej Liska and before him by Martin Bursik, who has left the party in the meantime.
Stropnicky said in his candidate speech that the Greens are a consolidated party that respect mutual diversity.
He said they are a party ready to start a path of return among fully parliamentary parties.
The Greens are now only represented in the Senate.
Turning to the economy, he said “Yes to the free market, but the private must stop transferring its costs on the public.”
He said, for instance, coal mining would not have been rewarding in the past 20 years already if the mining firms had to calculate the costs for the devastated land in their economy.
“Europe is a unique and successful project of restricting the malevolence of the economic power on supranational level where this restricting can solely be effective now,” Stropnicky said.
He said if there were not the EU, there would be less national state, sovereignty and freedom.
“On the contrary, we need more supranational politics, that is why we need more Europe,” Stropnicky said.
He said previously the party should also seek the votes of people with which it is not linked by the same life style and values.
He said the Greens must arouse the expectations that they will be able of representing these people, that they will be able to defend their interests the best of all.
Stropnicky criticised President Milos Zeman for his attitude to the migrant crisis. He said his behaviour in this connection is unpardonable.
Stropnicky said by kowtowing to people he makes weaklings of the citizens. He presents the danger as being bigger than it is, he supports people´s parochialism, egoism and he scares them.
“The president must not do this, it is pitiful,” Stropnicky said.
The Green Party was founded in 1989. It saw its biggest success ten years ago when it gained mandates in the Chamber of Deputies and government posts. Now, it is only represented in the Senate.
ms/dr
