PM Petr Fiala’s Czech government coalition might be coming apart in the next few months after a heavy blow from the populist opposition party ANO (‘Action of Dissatisfied Citizens’) during last weekend’s regional parliamentary elections. The elections saw ex-PM Andrej Babiš-led sovereigntists snatch the most seats in ten out of the country’s thirteen regions, leaving members of the ruling center-right Spolu (‘Together’) coalition victorious in only two.
ANO won its landslide victory with 35.4% of the vote, translating to 292 seats out of the nationwide total of 675, while Fiala’s Civic Democratic Party (ODS), the pack leader of his five-party coalition, came in second with only 106 seats. Establishment parties were let down both on the Left and Right, but both the hard-right Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) and the communist Stačilo (Enough) performed much better than expected, finishing in a tie at fifth place with 32 seats each.
But the biggest loser was the Czech Pirate Party—one of Spolu’s key coalition partners—which was virtually eliminated by voters, losing 96 of its 99 seats in the country’s 13 regional councils.
Pirate leader Ivan Bartoš promptly offered his resignation as party chair in light of the dismal showing but apparently, that was not enough for PM Fiala, who fired Bartoš as Minister for Regional Development and Digitization while citing his failure to follow through on a promise to digitize construction permits as the reason.
The Pirates’ problem is not necessarily with Bartoš’ dismissal, but with the way he was ousted from the government. Fiala met him on Tuesday, September 24th, but apparently gave no indication of what was coming, leading to the minister telling his followers that the election result would not lead to any personnel change in the cabinet. Fiala then called him on the phone later that day to inform him of his decision, leading the offended Bartoš to cry “betrayal.”
The Pirates are now reportedly considering quitting the coalition, which, apart from Bartoš, would also mean the departure of Foreign Minister Jan Lipavský and Legislation Minister Michal Šalomoun, as well as leaving the government with only a very slim majority in parliament.
“We were kicked out of the government by ODS today, and it’s out of the question that we would come back to beg,” said Jakub Michálek, head of the party’s parliamentary caucus.
Bartoš’s dismissal is not yet final, as it would also need presidential approval from the Czech head of state, Petr Pavel, who said he will meet with all the relevant parties on Monday. “What is important to me and to the citizens is that any change, if it occurs, does not affect the stability of the government,” Pavel said, stressing the need to avoid creating a power vacuum before next year’s general elections.
As for the populist ANO and Andrej Babiš, all that’s left is to sit back and enjoy the show while they prepare to take back the government, which may happen sooner than expected.
