In Beroun, 14 of ODS's 20 Members Quit — Party Will Be Led Into Elections by a 20-Year-Old Student

The local branch of ODS in Beroun suffered a split this spring: fourteen of its twenty members left the party, including the town's mayor, Soňa Chalupová, who had been a party member for 34 years.

"ODS has stopped being the right-wing party I fought and struggled for since its founding," Chalupová said, explaining her decision to leave. She has been active in local politics since 1989 and has served as mayor of Beroun since 2018. According to her, leaving ODS has had no effect on the work of the current town coalition.

Candidate List Refreshed With New Faces

Following the mass exodus, the local branch set about putting together a new slate for the autumn municipal elections. Leading it will be 20-year-old Matěj Suchopár, a student of international relations at the University of West Bohemia in Plzeň.

"There are six of us left, but we recently recruited one more person, so now we're seven," Suchopár said of the organization's current makeup. He noted that he personally invited most of the candidates. The list includes both ODS members and independent candidates, as well as business representatives. Second place on the list went to František Líma, a driving instructor and safety manager, while third went to Tomáš Švarc, a former member of the ČSSD. They are followed by education student Kristýna Řihová and ODS member Martin Tuček. Most of the candidates are under forty.

Suchopár rejects the notion that his young age could be an obstacle to leading the list. If elected, he plans to combine his duties as a council member with his studies. "We're staying the course as a right-wing party," he stressed.

Former Allies May Become Rivals

Some of the politicians who left Beroun's ODS branch have joined the new movement "Naše Česko" (Our Czechia). Among them is town councillor David Minařík, who ran on the ODS ticket back in the 2022 municipal elections alongside then-leader Soňa Chalupová.

The departing members explained their move as dissatisfaction with the direction ODS has taken. "We are not the ones leaving ODS — ODS has left us," their joint statement reads. The Naše Česko movement was founded by South Bohemian Governor (hejtman) Martin Kuba after his own departure from ODS. As a result, this autumn's municipal elections in Beroun could see former allies who ran on the same ticket just four years ago now facing off against each other.

Source: novinky.cz