Prague coalition talks: Spolu and STAN hold first consultations

The first talks on a new Prague city coalition have begun. On Monday evening, representatives of STAN and Spolu held consultations at City Hall. Together the two groups have 34 of the 65 seats on the city council, enough for a majority. The leaders promise to make final statements after the first round of talks, which runs on Monday and Tuesday.

“I promised in advance that we would talk to Spolu, Praha sobě and the Pirates. I don't know how I guessed it, but that is what we will do. We are starting now,” Hlaváček said shortly after six in the evening, before the doors closed behind him. After the meeting, which lasted less than two hours, he added that these were introductory consultations. They also covered whether the two parties would form a coalition on their own or invite another group.

Portlik: STAN is enough

Such a coalition would be fragile, yet before the meeting Portlik called it the preferred option for Spolu. He repeated much the same after the talks. “Prague needs stable governance. Petr and I don't have to agree on everything. But we know we can rely on each other. No coalition works without trust,” he said.

In his words, stability is determined not only by the number of seats but also by whether partners can “reach agreements and carry out joint decisions”. Portlik recalled that in the current term Spolu and the Pirates held 37 seats, yet for many documents they still had to gather votes from the opposition, including for the Metropolitan Plan. From that point of view, 34 seats together with STAN could prove far more stable.

Portlik came to the meeting together with Alexandra Udženija (ODS), the number two on Spolu's Prague list, and Michal Hroza (TOP 09).

Who will be mayor

Hlaváček still looks like the main candidate for mayor of Prague. In the afternoon, at the ODS headquarters on Truhlářská Street, where the party held a meeting before the City Hall talks, Portlik said the party has the utmost respect for the winner. “I say this firmly and clearly: STAN has the right to the mayor's post, and we are not holding any parallel negotiations,” he stressed.

Source: novinky.cz