Prague mayoral candidate Scheinherr parks campaign bus in a restricted zone — then calls it "public transport"

Prague council member and leader of the Prague Sobě movement, Adam Scheinherr, has found himself at the centre of a scandal after his large yellow campaign bus was spotted on Friday parked in a public transport turning area in the Ďáblice district — a zone reserved exclusively for city buses. The incident was documented on social media platform X by user Michal Valášek, who posted photos and video from the scene.

When Valášek asked the mayoral candidate why he had parked in the turning area, Scheinherr replied: "This loop isn't in use, so I just stopped here for a bit." Asked whether he had broken the rules simply because it was convenient for him, the politician first countered: "But this is a public transport vehicle too." When his interlocutor pointed out that the bus was being used for the election campaign rather than to carry passengers, Scheinherr changed his tone, apologised and promised to move it soon.

The politician's office responds

Scheinherr's spokesman, Ondřej Chlupáček, said the politician had given a television interview at that spot precisely because the area was disused and "no bus route runs through it." "It was a mistake for us to park there, and we apologise. We've already contacted the road authority to arrange an official permit for the future," the spokesman added.

According to Valášek, the bus remained parked in the turning area for at least 25 minutes. "As a vigilant, law-abiding citizen, I reported the violation to the municipal police, but they merely drove through the area and I didn't notice any real interest on their part," he said, adding that he had also filed a formal complaint with the city hall.

Not his first parking scandal

Adam Scheinherr is a Prague council member who served as deputy mayor for transport from 2018 to 2023 under then-Mayor Zdeněk Hřib of the Pirate Party. He also sits on the supervisory board of the Prague Public Transit Company. Since 2024 he has led the Prague Sobě movement, and in the current municipal elections he is running with the backing of the Christian Democrats and the Greens.

This is not the first time the politician has had to explain a parking mishap. Back in 2022, a photo circulated online showing his official car parked on a pavement. At the time, Scheinherr claimed on Facebook that the car had been driven that day by someone he didn't know, and that he had no idea the driver had parked so carelessly.

Source: novinky.cz