Kupka: Czech election results are a clear defeat for ANO

ODS chairman Martin Kupka called the election results “a clear defeat for ANO”: in his assessment, given how many candidates the ruling movement fielded, its result in the municipal elections and the first round of the Senate elections is weak. In an interview after the vote, he said the opposition as a whole had strengthened its position in the upper house, and that ODS is going to the runoff in nine Senate districts.

The Senate as insurance for democracy

Kupka noted that voters made it clear already in the first round that the Senate must remain a counterweight to the current government majority. The opposition’s agreed tactics also worked, with parties not taking votes from one another. Besides its own nine candidates, ODS supports nine more who have already won or have also reached the runoff. The party, he said, gained ground in Kutná Hora, Teplice and especially in Ostrava.

Comparing with his opposition rivals, Kupka recalled that STAN is defending 11 seats in the Senate, ODS five and TOP 09 two. So, by his calculation, the ODS caucus may not lose a single senator. Asked about Miloš Vystrčil being re-elected Senate president, he said he believes ODS will remain the strongest caucus, and urged voters to turn out for the runoff so that the Senate remains “insurance against the government’s attacks” on constitutional institutions and the media. He expressed no fear of STAN’s rise as opposition leader: “If you’re afraid, don’t go into the woods.”

Prague, Brno and Ostrava

In Brno, according to Kupka, ANO dropped to third place (it was previously second). The Spolu coalition used to get 25% there; ODS now has about 18.5%, though the count is not yet complete. He admitted that scandals that hurt the party may have affected the result, but stressed that completed projects, such as the new hall and solutions to transport problems, speak to the successes of the previous leadership. Brno residents, however, were drawn to the proposal of the new KDU-ČSL and STAN coalition.

In Ostrava, ANO won, but with a smaller share than four years ago, while ODS improved its result markedly. Whether ODS’s Jan Dohnal will become mayor, Kupka is not yet saying: “we’ll see how the negotiations go.” More important, he added, is not the mayoral chain but the chance to develop the city. In Prague, where ANO lost ground (four years ago it had more than 19%), the question of who becomes mayor will be settled by voters and negotiations. Kupka clarified that Spolu list leader Tomáš Portlík no longer considers a coalition with ANO: other options in which ODS plays a prominent role are far more likely. Of Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, who suggested that the winners of the Prague election turn to ANO, he remarked ironically that nothing Babiš does is surprising.

What comes next before the Chamber of Deputies election

Kupka did not rule out cooperation with STAN, but warned that hasty steps could cost the party part of its voters: ODS is betting on a market economy and a smaller state. That cooperation, he said, should ultimately tip the balance against ANO in the Chamber of Deputies election in three years. Among his priorities he named health care and education reforms, changes to the tax system, and the creation of the “People to Themselves” investment fund.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz

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