Prague, Dec 4 (CTK) – Four Czech mainstream parties are threatened with leaving the Chamber of Deputies if an early election took place, and this is why the pressure on support for the nascent minority cabinet of Andrej Babis will intensify, Petr Kambersky writes in daily Lidove noviny (LN) today.
The preferences of the Social Democrats (CSSD) and Christian Democrats (KDU-CSL), the former government parties along with Babis’s ANO, are steeply plummeting, while TOP 09 and the Mayors and Independents (STAN) are balancing around the 5-percent parliamentary threshold.
In other words, if the parties for the moment associated in the Democratic Bloc, the Civic Democrats (ODS), TOP 09, KDU-CSL and STAN, do not “start talking with Andrej” and if he does not win confidence for his minority cabinet, an early election will be held sooner or later, Kambersky says.
It would be fatal for the four above mentioned parties, while the Civic Democrats may suppose they could become stronger afterward, and this is why they are not willing to agree on a government coalition with Babis, which he would prefer, Kambersky writes.
But with time, ODS members will be strengthening the pressure on the party leadership to agree with Babis in a way.
The 5-percent preferences of four democratic mainstream parties considerably increase the probability of such a development, Kambersky writes in conclusion.
The names of the future ministers have been released, but the fate of the minority government of Andrej Babis in a vote of confidence in the Chamber of Deputies is uncertain, Lukas Jelinek writes in Pravo today.
Speculations emerged of late about another “opposition agreement” being in the offing, similar to the pact between the Social Democrats (CSSD) and Civic Democrats (ODS) that kept the CSSD minority government afloat in exchange of a portion of power in 1998-2002. This time it would be a deal between the winning ANO on the one hand, and the Communists (KSCM) and the Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) on the other hand, Jelinek says.
However, if Babis really struck such a deal with these two parties, it would be a warning signal as they are not the second and third strongest ones. It would be logical to make an agreement with the ODS, the second strongest party in the Chamber of Deputies, but neither Babis nor ODS leader Petr Fiala seem to be willing to do so, Jelinek says.
An alliance of ANO, the KSCM and SPD has already shown that it is able to start eliminating controlling mechanisms in the lower house by pushing through their people into the leadership of its crucial commissions and committees, he indicates.
After the general election, the Czech Republic is on the path that is still passable, but connected with a number of risks, Jelinek concludes.
The Saturday collapse of a footbridge in Prague-Troja, in which four people were injured, has shattered the inhabitants’ trust in the City Hall’s ability to watch the technical state of communications and someone should take responsibility for this, Josef Koukal writes elsewhere in Pravo today.
Yet only three weeks before the tragic accident, technical experts assessed the structure as safe, he adds.
Since it is little probable that terrorists from Islamic State were behind the accident, it will be interested to follow the investigation into it and whether someone will be punished for the sloppiness, Koukal says.
He admits that Prague Mayor Adriana Krnacova at least started to act immediately, she initiated checks of other footbridges in the capital and promised compensation for the injured people.
On the other hand, it is true that the bad state of the frequented Troja footbridge has been known for years, a solution has been postponed and the problem has been fatally underestimated. Someone must be responsible for this, Koukal concludes.
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