A year of five-party coalition in Prague: Stable internally, too quiet externally

Status: 12/17/2022 1:33 p.m

A coalition of five parties: the Czech government led by Prime Minister Fiala defies international crises. The style of the cabinet is sober. Observers want more communication.

By Marianne Allweiss, ARD Studio Prague

During the election campaign he was mocked as the “dry politics professor from Brno”. After a year as Prime Minister, Petr Fiala is already comparing himself to Superman and Co. “I feel a bit like I’m in an action film. There are challenges, there are unexpected things. And every time we as a government have achieved something, something new comes along to.”

Marianne Allweiss
ARD Studio Prague

In any case, Fiala managed one thing: after the election, he quickly forged a coalition of two different alliances. The conservative bloc is led by his ODS party, while in the liberal alliance the pirates are ideologically furthest away. The five parties were united by their fight against a common opponent: the then prime minister and billionaire Andrej Babis. This coalition of five held Fiala together for a year. A minister has been forced to resign over a corruption scandal, but the usual bickering isn’t happening.

Valuables by Vaclav Havel

“I have to praise that,” says political scientist Jan Kubacek. “The government is acting very coherently. Especially in the first few weeks of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Fiala mastered the situation excellently, not only in terms of his personality, but also in terms of communication.”

Less than three weeks after the war began, Fiala boarded a special train to Kyiv with the heads of government from Poland and Slovenia to personally assure Ukraine of his country’s and the EU’s support. For many, this was a great moment in Czech foreign policy and proof of the announced turn away from economic interests and back to the values ​​of Vaclav Havel.

The conservative-liberal government also referred to the former President during the EU Council Presidency in the second half of this year. At Prague Castle, Fiala organized the first meeting in the format of the European Political Community and an EU summit. He receives praise for his presidency.

After the election, Prime Minister Fiala quickly forged a coalition from two different alliances.

Image: via REUTERS

Opinion party ANO polls up

In the Czech Republic, the response is more restrained. “It’s not about what is said about him abroad, but what we say about him. And I think the general feeling in this country is that this is the most unsuccessful government since 1989,” said Kubacek. Andrej Babis, head of the voted-out minority government and chairman of the largest opposition party, ANO, expressed a similar view to that of former prime minister and president Vaclav Klaus. Their poll numbers have gone up; Babis himself has a chance of replacing outgoing President Milos Zeman in January.

The five-party coalition currently has no majority in parliament. Fiala has been hesitant to respond to anti-government and pro-Russian protests since the fall. Further aid packages against the high energy prices followed. However, observers like Kubacek criticize the content and style. “I was surprised because at the beginning Fiala was there all the time, explained the situation and tried to calm it down. I expected him to accept the challenge in this area as well,” says Kubacek.

Sober style

The new Czech cabinet had little time to familiarize itself and little government experience. After the fickle populist Babis, she introduced a new sober style to Prague politics. However, she could learn from the communication experts of her predecessor – that could significantly improve the balance in the B grade.

One year of the five-party coalition in Prague – the Czech Republic takes stock

Marianne Allweiss, ARD Prague, December 17, 2022 11:50 a.m

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