Businessmen hand opposition parties millions of crowns for Senate election campaigns

A group of Czech entrepreneurs and investors has donated millions of crowns to opposition parties for their campaigns ahead of the Senate elections. This was reported by Spolek, an association founded to support liberal democracy.

The campaign funding came from entrepreneurs and investors Jan Barta, Martin Vohánka, Pavel Šebora, Libor Winkler and Petr Kostiál. According to the association's website, "the Senate is a key element of the Czech constitutional system, a guarantee of its continuity, and its importance for the country's security and prosperity is growing in an era of geopolitical uncertainty."

Condition for receiving funds: parties must team up

The organization offered KDU-ČSL, ODS, the Pirates, SEN 21, STAN and TOP 09 financial support of 600,000 crowns each, on the condition that they join forces with at least three other parties in one of 13 selected Senate districts: Cheb, Louny, Pelhřimov, Děčín, Česká Lípa, Trutnov, Znojmo, Přerov, Olomouc, Frýdek-Místek, Ostrava, Zlín and Uherské Hradiště. According to the association's representatives, these are districts where "voting history shows a real, though not guaranteed, chance of success for liberal-democratic forces."

After the candidate lists were published, the association allocated 1.2 million crowns to KDU-ČSL, 1.8 million crowns to ODS, and 600,000 crowns to TOP 09, while the STAN movement received the most — three million crowns.

"The association set clear conditions that applied equally to everyone — it financially supported districts where at least four democratic parties managed to join forces. Since we succeeded in forming such a broad coalition in five districts, we received support totaling three million crowns," said STAN spokeswoman Sára Beránková.

The financial support is aimed, among other things, at the campaign of Pelhřimov mayor Ladislav Med (ODS), who is backed not only by the Civic Democrats but also by TOP 09, KDU-ČSL, STAN and the regional movement STO, as well as the campaigns of Zbyněk Linhart in Děčín and Miroslav Plevný (both from STAN) in Cheb, against whom the other opposition parties have not put forward their own candidates.

Prague Sobě also received three million

In addition, one of the association's founders, co-owner of the investment group Pale Fire Capital, Jan Barta, personally donated three million crowns to the Prague Sobě party, which is running in the capital and is putting forward its leader Adam Scheinherr for the post of mayor.

"I appreciate that Mr. Jan Barta takes an interest in the politics of the city where he lives with his family and wants to see the city develop along the lines of Western metropolises," Scheinherr said, adding that Barta has no business interests in Prague.

The association has been supporting the parties of the current parliamentary opposition for six years now. In 2020, it gave the Pirates, the Christian Democrats, ODS, the Mayors and Independents movement, and TOP 09 2.5 million crowns each. Each party received the same amount again in 2021, during the elections to the Chamber of Deputies.

A year later, ahead of the municipal elections, the association gave 1.5 million crowns to Prague Sobě. In 2024, ODS, the Christian Democrats, the Pirates, TOP 09 and STAN each received 2.5 million crowns, and last year the amount rose to three million crowns.

Jan Barta was also among the financial backers of Petr Pavel even before his election as Czech president.

"At a time when many people feel anxious about the future, the Association for the Support of Liberal Democracy wants to help strengthen trust in democratic institutions and principles as the foundations of a stable, free and self-confident society resistant to populist and extremist narratives," the association's description states. Under Czech law, a party or movement may accept no more than three million crowns in donations from a single donor within a calendar year.

Source: novinky.cz