Prague Mayoral Debates: Candidates Promise Thousands of Flats and School Places

Prague hosted pre-election debates among candidates for the post of city mayor, with participation from Jan Hušbauer of ANO, Tomáš Portlík of ODS, Adam Scheinherr of Praha sobě, and Tereza Nislerová of the Pirate Party. The event was organised by Seznam Zprávy and took place in two stages — first as a special podcast episode, then in another podcast format featuring the outlet's hosts.

STAN candidate Petr Hlaváček was unable to attend for health reasons, and as a result the other participants placed much of the blame for Prague's problems squarely on his party — from stalled development projects to the tense situation with places at secondary schools, an area overseen by STAN representative Antonín Klecanda.

Thousands of Flats, Places, and Kilometres on a Scooter

Throughout the discussion, candidates threw around plenty of numbers: Scheinherr spoke of thousands of new flats, Nislerová cited thousands of new secondary school places, Portlík recalled the thousands of kilometres he's covered on a scooter, while Hušbauer pointed to the enormous sums Prague holds but fails to invest.

When asked to present a large-scale development project for the city, the candidates were notably cautious in their answers — likely a reaction to the ballooning costs of the new philharmonic hall by the Vltava. The one standout idea came from Adam Scheinherr, who proposed turning the deteriorating Strahov Stadium into an innovation hub featuring an 8,000-square-metre co-working space.

Who's Willing to Work With Whom

Representatives of both ruling parties and both opposition parties in the city took part in the debate, yet by the end it was hard to draw a clear line between their positions. Tomáš Portlík said he generally doesn't intend to cooperate with anyone and would like to see the next city administration formed without the Pirates, calling cooperation with ANO unlikely as well.

Tereza Nislerová, representing the ruling coalition, found common ground with opposition figure Adam Scheinherr, who nonetheless said he'd also like to bring ODS and STAN into a future city government. Jan Hušbauer said he was open to working with any party willing to cooperate, except the Pirates, adding that much will depend on how the votes are ultimately split.

Following the municipal elections, Prague will get a new mayor for the first time in four years — one who, according to the debate participants, is likely to be more visible and active than the current officeholder.

Read also: Prague Metro: Map and Tickets

Source: seznamzpravy.cz