Political Critique: Czech Local Elections: a sharp turn to the right

Probably the sharpest, most explicit messages showed up in the northern parts of the country, namely the city of Most – a peripheral area devastated by heavy industry (and subsequent job loss when the coal mines closed) which suffers from a prolonged housing crisis caused by real estate brokers tied into local politics. Curiously enough, it is the party most intertwined with the poverty business that fans the flames driving proper the proper, good folk into a racist frenzy: the Mostians for Most Association (SMM) were openly advocating segregation, establishing locations excluded from housing social support and, yes, building “scum villages” to which they would move the “rabble”. As for determining who exactly the “rabble” is supposed to be, the procedure is not exactly clear but one can assume it will involve a color filter. [...]

SMM did not win the elections in Most, but they came third; enough to leave a mark on the city’s future (un-)social policy. Their campaign did, however, echo with that of the party which came fourth – the traditional, conservative Civic Democrats (ODS), a party that has been a determining factor in Czech politics since the nineties and has fallen on hard times with the advent of mass populism. Undeterred, they got the message – ODS has been promising Zero Tolerance To Foreigners (this particular slogan coming from Mladá Boleslav – a city whose economic lifeline happens to be foreign workers from the Škoda automobile factory) and scoring great successes with it; if there is an overall winner to this election, they are it. What the hell? [...]

The xenophobic SPD ended up with a disaster, with only 155 representatives across the whole country. Their leader, famously fearmongering fraudster Tomio Okamura, promptly amended his previous statement of expecting “hundreds of SPD representatives” to “I meant a three-figure sum”. His people were a lot less phlegmatic, though; “enjoy your immigrants”, tweeted a failed SPD candidate in Prague. And for all the horrible things to be said about the results in Brno, the openly neo-Nazi party Decent People flunked the election hard.

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Politico: Babiš in office in Prague, but not yet secure in power

As a result, ANO is 23 votes short of a majority in the 200-seat Chamber of Deputies. So Babiš — who denies the charges — will spend most of the holiday break trying to seduce party leaders and mavericks into supporting his administration when it faces its first vote of confidence in early January.

That will not be easy. This week, the center-right Civic Democrats, the second-strongest party in the chamber, and most of the other parties declared again that they would not support a minority government led by Babiš. And Tomio Okamura, the leader of the anti-immigration and anti-EU SPD, which finished third in the voting, said his party would only support a government that would carry out its hardline program. [...]

“I don’t think Babiš wants to get the votes this time,” Pehe said. “The way he’s been putting together this government, without many discussions with the other parties, he is fully prepared not to pass the vote of confidence.” [...]

In addition, the prime minister may also be working on ways to ensure his immunity from prosecution — as a member of parliament — is not lifted. The last parliament lifted his immunity just weeks before the election. But Babiš now has immunity once again, as a member of the new parliament.

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Politico: Million dollar Babiš

The result is something of a slap in the face for Brussels. Not only has Babiš opposed EU-mandated immigrant quotas and repeatedly accused Brussels of “meddling,” but the ODS has also been firmly anti-EU since the days of its founder, the famously Euroskeptic former Prime Minister and President Václav Klaus. [...]

The upstart Pirates, a pro-EU party, finished a surprise third with 10.79 percent of the vote. A vigorous campaign by popular YouTube vloggers urging young voters to go to the polls appears to have borne fruit for the party of digital enthusiasts, which also wants more direct democracy. The Pirates did well in every region in the country. [...]

“So, even Babiš, who appears to be very Euroskeptical, will have to modify his views because he cannot run a successful economy — as he promises to do — without being fully integrated with the rest of the European Union. Not to mention that some of the companies that are in his [Agrofert] empire are in Germany, Switzerland, France.” [...]

That is important to Babiš both politically and personally. He was charged with defrauding the EU of a €2 million subsidy after the Czech parliament stripped him of immunity in September. As a newly elected deputy, he will again be immune from prosecution — unless there is a new vote and he is stripped of his immunity again.

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