Archive: Domestic affairs | Political parties

Prime Minister Andrej Babiš on Wednesday announced the details of a planned cabinet reshuffle. Trade and Industry Minister Marta Nováková will be leaving her post at the end of the month, together with Transport Minister Dan Ťok, who is leaving office at his own request following fierce criticism from opposition deputies. I asked political analyst Jiří Pehe about the timing of the reshuffle and the reasons behind it.

Weeks after his expulsion from the Civic Democrats, anti-EU MP Václav Klaus Jr. has revealed plans to launch a new party following May’s Euro elections. His father, the well-known former prime minister and president Václav Klaus, is set to occupy an honorary role in the new grouping. I discussed the politics and prospects of “Young Klaus” – as many call him in Czech – with political scientist Petr Just.

The Civic Democrats have come out with a new amendment to Czech driving legislation, which would allow drivers to have up to two lagers before taking the wheel. They hope to table the proposal at the next session of the Chamber of Deputies, but there appears to be scant support for the idea in the lower house.

Former president Václav Klaus says that if the Civic Democrats had expelled his son, Václav Klaus Jr., a few weeks sooner, the two would have had time to found a party under which the latter could have stood in elections to the European Parliament in May. He made the comment in an interview for the newspaper Blesk published three days after Václav Klaus Jr. had his membership of the Civic Democrats revoked.

Mr. Klaus also said that the Civic Democrats should change their name as, he argued, they bear no resemblance today to the party he founded in the 1990s.

The chairman of the opposition Civic Democrats, Petr Fiala, has accused the ANO-led cabinet of being a government of marketing and empty words. Speaking at a party policy conference on Saturday, Mr. Fiala also indirectly compared ANO’s leader, Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, to Baron Munchausen, a literary character known for the comical exaggeration of his exploits.

During Saturday’s congress the Civic Democrats expelled Václav Klaus Jr. from the party. The son of the former prime minister and president had refused calls to quit the party after he compared Czech MPs approving EU directives to the decisions of the Jewish council, whose members were forced to make selections for transports to concentration camps.

The opposition Civic Democrats (ODS) have called on MP Václav Klaus, Jr. to leave the parliamentary caucus, saying his remarks are damaging the party’s reputation.

On Tuesday, Mr Klaus likened the transposition of European Union directives, most recently the GDPR, to the deportation of Jews imposed by the Nazis during the war.

After protests from several parties, Civic Democrat leader Petr Fiala apologised for the “unfortunate comparison”.

Mr Klaus, the son of the former Czech president, has said he will not leave the Civic Democrats voluntarily.

Czech media and advertising tycoon Jaromír Soukup has formally registered a political movement bearing his name with the stated aim of “defending national interests against corrupt politicians and oligarchs”.

A spokesman for the Ministry of the Interior, which handles such requests, on Wednesday confirmed the registration of the movement, called List Jaromíra Soukupa.

Mr Soukup hosts a popular talk show on the private cable channel TV Barrandov, which he took over in 2012. Critics say it panders to voters of populist and extreme right-wing parties and politicians.

At their party congress this weekend, the Social Democrats re-elected Minister of Interior Jan Hamáček chairman and elevated rising political star Minister of Foreign Affairs Tomáš Petříček to deputy chairman. Delegates also endorsed a revised party platform, representing a shift some observers view as more radically left, other towards a mainstream European centre. Regardless, will it be enough to revive the party’s popularity?

Jan Hamáček was re-elected leader of the Social Democratic Party at a two-day election conference in Hradec Kralové on Friday. Hamáček, who has led the party since February 2018, ran unchallenged. The candidates for the remaining five deputy posts include Foreign Minister Tomáš Petříček, Labour and Social Affairs Minister Jana Maláčová and deputy chair of the lower house Tomáš Hanzel.

Foreign Minister Petříček, whose pro-European policy has come under fire from the Communist Party and President Miloš Zeman, said earlier that if he was not elected to a deputy post he would consider quitting as foreign minister.

Addressing the Social Democrats election conference, President Miloš Zeman said he would give the party his vote in the upcoming European elections.

He praised the party for its decision to enter into a coalition with the ANO party rather than resorting to what he described as “a more comfortable role in the opposition”.

The president gave his full backing to party leader Jan Hamáček who, he said, had not put a foot wrong in office so far, but criticized Foreign Minister Tomáš Petříček, saying that his election to a deputy post would be “repeating past mistakes”.

Zeman said the party had capable politicians, but did not always make good use of their potential.