municipal and partial senate elections
Government parties assert themselves in elections in the Czech Republic
Members of the electoral commission of the 77th constituency in Hradec Kralove empty a ballot box after the city council elections. photo
© Taneèek David/CTK/dpa
Energy concerns and the war in Ukraine overshadowed the Czech municipal and partial senate elections. The catastrophe expected by some for the liberal-conservative government did not materialize.
The liberal and conservative governing parties did surprisingly well in the local and first round of the Senate elections in the Czech Republic. Prime Minister Petr Fiala’s Spolu (Together) electoral alliance became the strongest force in Prague, Brno, Pilsen (Plzen) and Budweis (Ceske Budejovice) and could provide the mayors there in the future. This came out on Sunday from the preliminary final result of the statistics authority CSU.
“It’s really a success,” said Fiala. The populist opposition party ANO led by billionaire Andrej Babis scored points in eight major regional centers, including Karlsbad (Karlovy Vary), Usti nad Labem (Aussig) and Ostrava. The ex-prime minister, who is likely to run for the presidency in January, had declared the elections a “referendum on the government”.
Nationally, the independent candidates were the most successful. Among the parties, Labor Minister Marian Jurecka’s Christian Democrats (KDU-CSL) send the most representatives to the municipal councils. The ultra-right party Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) was able to gain ground.
A key issue in the election campaign was the high energy prices, which rose again as a result of the Russian war against Ukraine. Around 70,000 people took to the streets in Prague in early September to protest. The cabinet responded with an electricity and gas price cap. The Czech Republic currently holds the EU Council Presidency and thus assumes an important mediating role in Europe.
The composition of the more than 6,000 city and municipal councils was decided. Voter turnout was low at 45.30 percent. “People probably preferred to go picking mushrooms,” criticized opposition leader Babis.
Commentator: Warning to Prime Minister Fiala
At the same time, the seats for the Senate, the upper house of parliament, were reassigned in a third of the 81 constituencies. Two government politicians and one opposition politician won in the first round. The ANO sends 17 candidates to the runoff elections in a week, the governing alliance Spolu 18. The senators are elected for six years.
There was no catastrophe for the government, wrote commentator Martin Fendrych from the news portal aktualne.cz. Nevertheless, the result should be understood as a warning to Prime Minister Fiala: “It’s not enough to go to bombed Kyiv and take in 400,000 refugees. The Prime Minister must also go to the regions where he is not welcome.”