Opposition fails to agree on candidates in all districts: ODS and STAN set to clash ahead of Senate elections

Czech opposition parties have failed to field joint candidates in all 27 districts of the upcoming Senate elections, managing to agree on common contenders in only about half of them. In the remaining districts, opposition representatives will be up against not only pro-government candidates but each other as well — with ODS and the STAN movement most frequently facing off, in six districts alone.

Back in winter, STAN deputy chairman Lukáš Vlček said the party was aiming to find a single opposition candidate in every district in order to preserve its Senate majority. Two months before the October vote, however, reality has turned out differently.

STAN leader Vít Rakušan admitted that agreement was reached in the vast majority of districts, though the exceptions leave him disappointed. ODS chairman Martin Kupka considers the deals struck so far the best that could realistically be achieved: according to him, the parties came to agreements in districts where an opposition candidate risked being knocked out before the runoff, while they are competing against each other in districts where they expect two opposition candidates will meet in the second round anyway.

ODS is running 14 candidates, STAN 13. Smaller opposition parties are treading more cautiously — the Pirates and TOP 09 each have three candidates, while the Christian Democrats have five. Pirates leader Zdeněk Hřib said his party is backing democratic-camp candidates in 15 districts to boost the chances of "capable, sensible people" making it into the Senate. Rakušan added that his movement will unhesitatingly back whichever opposition candidate reaches the second round, regardless of party.

The stakes for the opposition are high: its senators are defending seats in as many as 26 of the 27 districts, meaning they stand to lose ground. Of the three ruling parties, only ANO is defending its single Senate seat — so the governing coalition stands only to gain.

The fiercest battles are expected in Prague, where opposition parties traditionally dominate, meaning internal competition there is unlikely to hand victory to a pro-government candidate. In Prague 5, high school director Radko Sabliks (ODS), former Czech Television advisor Zdeněk Šarapatka (TOP 09), and incumbent senator Václav Láska (SEN 21, formerly part of the Pirate faction) will go head to head. In Prague 9, incumbent senator David Smoljak (STAN) will face opera singer Dagmar Pecková (running for ODS). In Prague 1, STAN has nominated writer Jiří Padevět, while the "Prague for Itself" movement, backed by the Christian Democrats, is fielding Prague 7 mayor Jan Čižinský.

The opposition has more reason to worry outside the capital, where internal rivalry has repeatedly resulted in no opposition candidate at all making it to the runoff. A clash is brewing, for instance, in the Česká Lípa district, where incumbent senator Jiří Vosecký is running — formally part of the STAN faction, though standing as an independent. STAN has put forward Liberec regional governor Martin Půta against him, while ODS is backing Kravaře mayor Vít Vomáčka.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz