Grolich: coalitions without ANO possible in all Czech regional cities

Victory in the Senate election in the Vyškov district was a test of his standing in national politics for Grolich, the South Moravian regional governor and party leader. He won outright in the first round, beating the ANO candidate by 33–34 percentage points. In his assessment, the governing parties have visibly weakened.

Coalitions without ANO are possible

Grolich believes the governing parties have lost support: “In all regional capitals, it is mathematically possible to form a coalition without the ANO movement.” He does not think it will end up that way, but says the mathematical result is what matters. In his view, ANO has weakened in its strongholds, Ústí nad Labem and Ostrava. His own result and the results elsewhere show, he says, that if people join forces for a good cause and run a decent campaign, it is possible to defeat both ANO and the governing parties by a wide margin.

He calls the Vyškov district a difficult one, since the governing parties hold a majority there, but “here everything turned around.” Grolich says he did not expect such a decisive result: “It is a huge responsibility.”

Social media and personal attacks

According to Grolich, ANO turned their district into a national battleground, which only raised the profile of the race. He thinks the attacks worked in his favor: opponents overdid it, even though they themselves had criticized negative campaigns. Grolich’s team responded with irony and a light touch, which ANO’s marketing team, he says, could not handle. He noted that ANO used to have the best marketing, but it is now clear that a regional campaign can have a national impact, and a positive one at that.

What next: the leadership role and his posts

Grolich does not call himself the leader of the opposition: “A person either is a leader or is not,” and time will show, including at the next election to the Chamber of Deputies. He intends to try holding the posts of senator, party leader and regional governor at once: if ANO regional governors manage to combine the post with a seat as an MP, he reasons, the Senate, which is less demanding, can be combined too, and he will assess it after a while.

In three years, he says, he may have to run for the Chamber of Deputies: as the leader of a parliamentary party he has no other option, but anything can happen in politics. Giving up any of his posts will not be easy: the job of South Moravian governor has been the most fulfilling for him, but the Senate result shows he is moving toward national politics.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz