MP Benda admits: he proposed ignoring the Constitutional Court's ruling to cancel the elections

Czech ODS parliamentary deputy Marek Benda spoke on the Dvořský & Šídlo podcast about the behind-the-scenes turmoil of his party's political crisis between 2006 and 2013, when the governments of Prime Ministers Mirek Topolánek and Petr Nečas twice collapsed prematurely, and the party lost roughly a million voters.

According to Benda, in March 2009 Topolánek's cabinet fell after a no-confidence vote initiated by then Social Democrat leader Jiří Paroubek — 101 deputies voted against the government, including four former coalition members. Benda believes the decisive factor was Topolánek himself, who decided he would no longer bow to pressure from within the party, particularly from former Finance Minister Vlastimil Tlustý.

The way out of the crisis was supposed to be early elections scheduled for autumn 2009, but in September the Constitutional Court unexpectedly cancelled them. "It was a real shock. I came to Prague and proposed simply ignoring the Constitutional Court's ruling and holding the elections anyway. Everyone tore me apart for it," Benda recalls.

A chance for a comeback arrived in the spring and summer of 2010: following the surprising results of the next election, Petr Nečas, who had replaced Topolánek as prime minister back in March, formed a government with TOP 09 and Public Affairs, securing a record majority of 118 votes. "Paradoxically, that turned out to be the worst thing that could have happened to us. Too large a majority is the most dangerous kind," the deputy admits.

Nečas's government was indeed rocked by one crisis after another, and its fate was ultimately sealed by a police raid on the government building in June 2013. Benda, who was chairman of the parliamentary faction at the time, recalls telling fellow deputies in late May to calmly plan their summer holidays, as nothing serious was expected. Reality — in the form of the investigation led by Colonel Šlachta — soon proved otherwise.

Around Prague, based on reporting by seznamzpravy.cz