The leaders of the three parties in the governing Spolu (“Together”) coalition, the Civic Democrats (ODS), Christian Democrats (KDU-CSL) and TOP 09, will sign a memorandum in Prague on Monday, agreeing to again run together in the same coalition in the 2025 Czech parliamentary elections, ODS spokesman Jakub Skyva announced today.
The memorandum will be signed by Prime Minister and ODS leader Petr Fiala, TOP 09 leader Marketa Pekarova Adamova, and KDU-CSL’s new chair Marek Vyborny, in the Manes building in central Prague on 28 October, the national holiday commemorating the anniversary of the founding of Czechoslovakia.
ODS, TOP 09 and KDU-CSL went to the 2021 elections with a combined candidate list, and subsequently formed a government coalition with the Mayors and Independents (STAN) and Pirates. The Pirate Party left the cabinet a month ago.
Current opinion polls now favour the opposition ANO by a wide margin over the Spolu coalition.
In an interview with CTK this week, the prime minister said that the parties had yet to discuss the lineup of the candidate lists or the nominations. He noted that their success would depend on whether they can convince voters that the policies they were pursuing in government were the right ones for them.
The crucial thing is to run one combined campaign, not four parallel ones of ODS, KDU-CSL, TOP 09 and Spolu, said Fiala.
Fiala also said he considered Spolu to be a viable concept, given that the coalition was working well and voters could understand it.
According to an election model by Kantar CZ, around a year out from the elections, ANO would win with 35.5% of the vote. ODS would finish second with 14.5% of the vote.
If ODS, KDU-CSL and TOP 09 ran together as Spolu, as in the previous election, ANO would then be first with 36.5%, up 2 percentage points from June, and Spolu would take about 20% of the vote.
Fiala plans to explain the government’s policy during the campaign. The parties will report on their record as well as their future plans, discussing education, the stagnant labour market and low wages, the high cost of energy, and the construction of transport infrastructure, he noted.
At the same time, the prime minister said it was logical to stand against former PM Andrej Babis’s ANO. He said he agreed with the opinion expressed a week ago at the KDU-CSL election congress in Olomouc, that “anti-Babis” rhetoric was not enough.
According to Fiala, the campaign would not depend on any of the Spolu team as individuals, but everyone must find a way to connect with the electorate. When asked about the role of Finance Minister Zbynek Stanjura (ODS), who coordinated the campaign in the past, Fiala replied that Stanjura could repeat this role.
