Grolich eyes Czech Chamber of Deputies after winning Senate seat

Jan Grolich, the newly elected senator who leads the People’s Party (KDU-ČSL), makes no secret that he does not plan to stay long in the upper house: in three years he intends to fight for a seat in the Chamber of Deputies. For him, the Senate is a test of whether voters will back him at the highest level.

“Yes, it’s a test. I received a very strong mandate, but at the same time I say: if we elect a prime minister for four years, ministers for four years, governors for four years, mayors for four years, why can’t it make sense to be a senator for three years?” Grolich says. A Senate mandate, however, lasts six years.

The politician rejects accusations that he is betraying voters’ trust in this way, and says he laid out his plans openly during the campaign. “It would be dishonest if I concealed it somehow. From the very beginning I said that this is how I have it planned. And it only holds if I remain a successful politician all along, if the People’s Party still wants to see me as chairman, and if we are successful and get a chance to enter the Chamber of Deputies.”

Little support, big ambitions

For now, Grolich’s plans run up against reality. According to the latest voter preference poll, the People’s Party has no chance of entering the Chamber of Deputies on its own: a poll by the Median agency shows it would currently get just three percent of the vote.

That does not stop the head of one of the country’s oldest parties, whose roots go back to 1919, from having ambitious plans. The party is traditionally associated with less prominent ministries, and he would like to expand its influence and secure a place in a future government.

“What matters most to me is that we are not tied only to minor topics, as we have been until now, such as family policy or the environment. I want people to be able to imagine us having a finance minister and an economy minister with strong powers, because they are the ones who decide who should actually run the country,” he said.

A new brand and an economic strategy

That is why Grolich is preparing to present an economic strategy called “People’s Party for Czechia” in January. It will include not only proposals for unpopular measures, the details of which he refuses to specify for now, but also a vision of where the country should be heading.

“We need to build a new brand that will be noticed abroad,” he said. “We are strong in innovation. We are still a subcontractor of smart solutions for foreign firms, but we must be able to sell the know-how and the added value that we are capable of creating.”

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz