Young politician from the "Our Czechia" movement: young people are most afraid for the fate of democracy in the country

Jan Lexa, a 19-year-old law student from České Budějovice and co-author of the "Our Czechia Seeks Talent" project, discussed in an interview the new approach taken by the "Our Czechia" movement to selecting young politicians, as well as his concerns about the state of Czech democracy.

The movement, founded by the former governor of the South Bohemian Region, Martin Kuba, has decided to introduce elements of professional recruitment into politics: aspiring party representatives must go through a two-stage competition involving a motivational video and a three-semester training program, covering crisis management and media presentation skills.

According to Lexa, the movement deliberately avoids tying itself to strictly left- or right-wing values, focusing instead on "delivering results" to citizens rather than engaging in ideological disputes. He criticized the previous government of Petr Fiala for its inability to find agreement among the five coalition parties, and also stated that the current ruling coalition led by Andrej Babiš argues too much and accomplishes too little.

The young politician also spoke about Czechia's international commitments — specifically, fulfilling the agreements from the NATO summit in The Hague, under which the country is supposed to spend 5% of GDP on defense by 2035 (3.5% on the military, 1.5% on infrastructure). Lexa supported Czechia's participation in the "coalition of the willing" providing air defense systems to Ukraine, noting that the outcome of the war also affects Czechia's own security.

He also expressed concern about attacks on the Constitutional Court and attempts to bring Czech public television and radio under state control, calling this an "undermining of democratic foundations." According to him, based on a survey by Ipsos, it is precisely the threat to democracy that currently worries young Czechs the most, more than economic or social issues.

Commenting on the controversy surrounding the failed appointment of Filip Turek as minister, Lexa stated that the "Our Czechia" movement would not enter into a coalition with forces that, in his view, undermine the foundations of a democratic rule-of-law state. However, he emphasized that with three and a half years still remaining until the elections, it is too early to draw final conclusions about future allies.

Asked about a possible conflict of interest involving movement leader Martin Kuba, who previously worked in the energy business, Lexa said he trusts his leader and does not see a need to oversee his business activities.

Jan Lexa himself will run for "Our Czechia" in October's municipal council election in České Budějovice.

By the Around Prague newsroom