Šlachta may leave the ANO Senate club after the Znojmo election

Robert Šlachta, leader of the Oath movement, is considering leaving the ANO Senate club, of which he has been a member until now. He said so in Sunday’s debate programme on Czech Television, explaining his decision by the events of recent days in South Moravia.

“What happened in South Moravia made me very angry. I will deal with it,” said Šlachta, a former police officer and head of the Organised Crime Unit.

What happened in the Znojmo election

The politician links it all to the Senate election in the Znojmo district, where Pavel Černý ran for his Oath movement. In the first round Černý won only 5.04% of the vote and did not make it to the runoff. Afterwards, Czech media reported, he offered his support to the ANO candidate Jiří Kynera, but demanded 50,000 crowns for it.

Kynera rejected the offer, and Černý ended up backing his rival, the incumbent senator Tomáš Třetina of TOP 09. Třetina went on to win. According to Černý, the money was needed to pay for filming and editing a video. He says he asked Třetina for nothing because he felt closer to him.

“The communication directed at me was rather unpleasant,” Šlachta said on Czech Television.

Will Šlachta stay in the club

Whether to stay in the ANO Senate club or leave it could be decided as early as Sunday evening, Šlachta said, when he will chair the meeting.

Šlachta was elected senator for the Břeclav district in South Moravia in September 2024, beating ANO candidate Miloslav Janulík in the runoff with 58.88% of the vote to 41.11%. He joined the ANO club because, as he said at the time, as an independent senator he would have fewer opportunities to push his agenda.

In Sunday’s debate he added that he had already differed with the ANO senators on some issues. Šlachta did not say where he would like to move.

Around Prague, based on reporting by seznamzpravy.cz