Archive: Domestic affairs | Political parties Political parties
Alarm as anti-cronyism party says will replace police chief with ‘one of our own people’
The centre-right government hasn’t even been appointed yet but already
trouble seems to be brewing over personnel changes at the head of the Czech
police force. Radek John, leader of the Public Affairs party, conceded in a
television interview this weekend that he may replace the police chief with
what he called ‘one of our own people’. The remarks have caused alarm
amongst politicians and criticism from the media.
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Public Affairs puts coalition agreement to online vote
Assuming all goes well in the last meeting of the emerging coalition on
Friday – involving procedural aspects of cooperation between the Civic
Democrats, TOP 09 and the Public Affairs party – the coalition agreement
will be approved by the broader party leaderships, and in one case by
unconventional means. In a first for Czech politics, Public Affairs, which
presents itself as the party of direct democracy, will be asking its
members to vote on the party’s participation in the government online.
Earlier today I spoke with new MP and e-marketing businessman Viktor
Paggio, who is involved in the party’s online referenda.
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NGO: preferential votes played key role in election of more women to lower house
Last month’s election saw more women than ever before elected to the
Czech Republic’s Chamber of Deputies: 44 (some 22 percent of all MPs).
The three centre-right parties holding talks on forming the next government
have since put forward three women politicians – Miroslava Němcová,
Kateřina Klasnová, and Vlasta Parkanová – for important posts: the
speaker of the lower house, and deputy chairpersons, respectively. A little
earlier I spoke to Michaela Appeltová of Forum 50 percent – an NGO aimed
at promoting the role of women in politics, and asked her how she viewed
this year’s election.
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New lower house of Parliament holds first session
On Tuesday, 114 MPs in the 200 member lower house of Parliament will take
an oath of loyalty for the first time, as the Chamber meets in its first
session following last month’s elections. The new lower house will be far
different from that which preceded it: for one, more women MPs than ever
were elected and are also expected to hold key posts as lower house speaker
and deputy chairpersons. Secondly, the new lower house will be slimmed of
numerous committees as part of necessary cost-cutting measures, a move
decided on Monday by the three parties negotiating on the next government.
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Civic Democrats get a makeover
The weekend conference of the Czech Republic’s largest centre-right
party, the Civic Democrats, brought plenty of new faces to the forefront.
Many in the press and the party itself refer to the changes as a
revolution, but will it help them regain their lost ground? What can we
expect from the “new” Civic Democratic Party? Radio Prague asked
political analyst Jiří Pehe.
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Civic Democrats confirm Petr Nečas as leader and put allies into top party posts
The acting leader of the centre-right Civic Democrats and man tipped to be
the next prime minister, Petr Nečas, has been confirmed at the top of the
party. What is more, votes for the other top party posts confounded
expectations by delivering Mr. Nečas’ dream team.
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Likely next PM Nečas: coalition talks should intensify after Civic Democrats congress this weekend
The man most likely to become the next Czech prime minister, Petr Nečas of
the Civic Democrats, has paid a visit to Prague Castle to inform President
Václav Klaus about how three-party coalition talks are progressing. Mr
Nečas says those talks should move up a gear after a key congress of his
party this weekend, and a new cabinet should be drawing up next year’s
budget within a month’s time.
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Slovaks echo Czechs as left score hollow victory, but right head for power
The wind of change has been blowing across Central Europe this spring, with
elections in Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic and most recently
Slovakia significantly altering the political landscape. Commentators have
been struck by the parallels between the latter two elections, especially
the apparent failure of the countries’ two Social Democratic parties to
form a government despite winning the most votes. But do the parallels end
there?
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Upcoming Civic Democrat party congress might stall government negotiations
Three weeks after general elections, three centre-right parties are still
holding talks on forming a coalition government. On Friday, the leader of
the strongest party, the Civic Democrats, is set to inform President
Václav Klaus on the progress made so for, and might even leave those talks
as prime minister designate. But the Civic Democrats are holding a crucial
congress over the weekend that could change everything.
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Analyst: change of legislation to allow direct presidential elections unlikely
The three parties who are in the process of forming a centre-right
government have agreed to try to change the Czech constitution in a way
that would allow the president to be elected in a direct vote. In line with
the country’s legislation, the head of state has always been elected by
the two houses of Parliament in a process that involves a great deal of
horse-trading. Although opinion surveys suggest that the public would
prefer a direct vote all previous attempts to change the system have
failed. Is a different outcome likely this time and what changes in law
would be necessary? Sarah Borufka talked to political analyst Jiří Pehe.
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