Prague coalition: STAN offers Pirates and Praha Sobě an alliance

A new city coalition is taking shape in Prague: after a second round of negotiations, the election-winning STAN movement is handing out concrete offers to potential partners. “We, that is the Mayors and I personally, prefer a three-party coalition, which has a wider reach among voters,” said STAN leader Jan Hrabáček.

What STAN has offered

“We discussed our offer with the Pirates in detail: it was about committees and councillors, and we touched on supervisory boards in outline too, although that is premature. We expect an answer by Wednesday evening, and on Thursday morning we have a club meeting where it needs to be discussed,” Hrabáček said. “Praha Sobě” will receive a concrete offer on Wednesday, and the “Spolu” alliance a day later.

“It is an offer. Let’s see what role we end up in,” Tereza Nyslerová replied when asked whether the Pirates had received a good offer. She repeated that the party is interested in cooperation, and that the subject of the talks remains affordable housing, which the Pirates put into their election programme. According to her, the negotiating team still has to discuss the offer.

“We will not demand transport, which we have handled until now, although in my view we have moved it in a good direction,” Nyslerová noted. In her words, a possible coalition already agrees on, for example, restricting car access to central Prague. “But we haven’t got there yet,” she added. Hrabáček mentioned the possibility of creating low-emission zones in the longer term.

Who wants to go without Spolu

“Praha Sobě” and its leader Adam Scheinherr have long been interested in transport and would most like to see a three-party coalition without “Spolu”. “A coalition of STAN, ‘Praha Sobě’ and the Pirates is for us the coalition with the greatest possible overlap in programmes, which means the fewest disputes and a workable alliance for the next four years,” he told Novinky.

The “Spolu” alliance and its leader Tomáš Portlík (ODS), by contrast, are interested in a two-party coalition, which would hold 34 seats in the 65-seat assembly.

Last week a dispute over finances flared up between STAN and “Spolu”. Hrabáček no longer insists on that portfolio, but with one condition: “We will reach some agreement, but with a guarantee that education, housing and transport do not become stepchildren. There will be one responsible councillor and a friendly understanding that not everything is in his hands,” the STAN leader said, without giving details.

Hrabáček and Nyslerová stressed that the chairs of their parties are not entering the talks, but are in contact with them. “I consult with Vít Rakušan, but I have no instructions on how to proceed. We have democratic freedom,” Hrabáček added.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz