The 11 city councillors, including the mayor, are to be voted in on Thursday. Photo credit: KJB / Brno Daily.
Prague, Feb 16 (CTK) – The Pirates, the Mayors and Independents (STAN) and the Spolu alliance of the Civic Democrats (ODS), Christian Democrats (KDU-CSL) and TOP 09 signed a coalition agreement in Prague yesterday, nearly five months after the elections.
Never before in modern Czech history have the post-election negotiations lasted so long.
Prague is the only municipality in the country that does not have a new administration after the elections last September.
Spolu, the Pirates and STAN hold 36 seats in the 65-member City Assembly.
On Thursday, the 11 city councillors, including the mayor, are to be voted in. Bohuslav Svoboda (ODS), the leader of Spolu’s Prague branch, is the candidate for mayor of the coalition.
“Finally, Prague will have an elected mayor and a new leadership,” he said. “The coalition talks were very difficult and complicated. It seems to me that we will be facing many uneasy tasks. I believe that we have prepared for them well.”
In the new City Council, the Pirates will have four, STAN two and Spolu five seats, three of which will go to ODS and two to TOP 09. KDU-CSL will have no seats on the Council but will chair two of the City Assembly committees.
Zdenek Zajicek (ODS), who heads the Spolu group in the City Assembly, said the new coalition wants to focus on cooperation with the state, energy self-sufficiency and security, and housing.
Spolu won the local elections in the capital city with 19 mandates, followed by ANO with 14 mandates, the Pirates with 13, Prague For Itself with 11, STAN with five and Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) with three.
