SPD and the Motorists have accepted there will be no discussion of possible Czech withdrawal from the EU or NATO, including via a national referendum, during negotiations on the policy statement of the nascent government, ANO deputy leader Karel Havlicek told journalists yesterday.
He said ANO, which clearly won the parliamentary elections over a week ago, resolutely stated that any such discussion is out of the question. “This is accepted by our potential partners,” he added.
Introducing referendums, including on international issues, has long been among the main priorities of Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD).
Leading politicians of ANO and the Motorists had talks about the policy statement yesterday at the ANO headquarters in Prague. “We discussed how we were going to proceed, we talked about the timeline,” Havlicek said.
He added that about three or four weeks would be needed to discuss the policy statement. “It is obvious that a coalition is being formed that will be centre-right with a certain social sensibility, on the basis of a certain conservative mindset,” Havlicek stated.
After the negotiations, he said an agreement had also been reached on economic priorities. “This means securing economic growth through investment, the private sector and creating a predictable energy environment,” he said. “We are also discussing the budget, the outgoing government has left our budget in an absolutely disastrous state.”
He added that ANO and the Motorists had not discussed any changes in how the ministries would be divided among the parties. He noted that the candidates for ministers that had been mentioned were not the final nominations for the posts.
From Wednesday, special groups dealing with specific policy areas will begin meeting. Havlicek said he and former finance minister Alena Schillerova will represent ANO in the group on economic policy, in which he said SPD deputy leader Radim Fiala and Motorists leader Petr Macinka would also take part.
ANO has said he wants to present the policy agenda and the new ministers of the future government to President Petr Pavel in mid-November.
