Czech elections: which path will the country take?
Parliamentary elections will take place in the Czech Republic this Friday and Saturday. Former prime minister Andrej Babiš's populist ANO party has a ten-percentage-point lead against Prime Minister Petr Fiala's liberal-conservative governing coalition in the polls. Commentators observe a tense mood in the country and examine the reasons.
No abrupt change of system to be feared
Pravda sees the small radical parties as the biggest risk to democracy:
“The ANO movement of election favourite Andrej Babiš and the government camp are like fire and water, people say. ANO considers Petr Fiala to be the worst prime minister in the world, while Fiala and his partners portray Babiš as an ally of Vladimir Putin. Neither is true. The Czech Republic has seen worse prime ministers than Fiala, and Babiš is no Putin, Orbán or Fico. Even if ANO wins in the Czech Republic there will not be an abrupt change of power. The greater risk is posed by small radical parties that would prefer to overthrow not only Fiala's government but also the political system that emerged after November 1989.”
Clear words in a tense atmosphere
In a bid to calm the tensions in the country, Czech President Petr Pavel made a televised speech encouraging people to participate in the elections. Lidové noviny approves:
“This year's elections are taking place in a very tense atmosphere, with war raging close by and the situation far more turbulent and dangerous than we have been used to in recent decades. So the president was right to make a clear and unambiguous statement. He rejected the hysterical alarmists who are scaremongering about regime change or election manipulation, but did not conceal the importance of the vote. Given our international political situation and our anchoring in the EU and Nato, most citizens will agree with the president on this.”
Keep important touchpoints in mind
To avoid an anti-EU and anti-NATO bias in the country, Deník suggests the following approach:
“The governing parties and ANO have many important points of contact, which include the Czech Republic remaining in the EU and Nato. ... ANO leader Babiš has also changed his mind on other issues. For example, like the president and the defence minister, he believes that intruding Russian drones or aircraft should be shot down. ... And like Babiš, Prime Minister Fiala says that the climate targets must be lowered to free up more money for defence. ... Voters should think carefully about what a [potential] alliance between ANO and the anti-system movement Stačilo!, which wants to sever our international ties [with the EU and Nato], would mean.”
Joining forces with Babiš suicide for ODS
Forum24 doesn't see an alliance between the largest governing party ODS and Babiš's ANO as likely:
“There are many among today's ODS members who understand that politics is also a matter of trust, values and long-term strategy. A merger between the ODS and ANO makes no sense politically, either regarding values or in practical terms. Babiš already destroyed his coalition partner, the Social Democrats [in his government from 2017 to 2021]. There can be no doubt that any other coalition partner would face a similar fate.”