Prime Minister Petr Fiala (ODS) believes that his party will retain the majority in the Senate, and the civic democrat Miloš Vystrčil will remain the chairman of the upper chamber. According to him, the most important thing will be how the parties of the government coalition will turn out and how much they will strengthen other parties. He added that he would say more about the situation when the election results are in. He said this today when he arrived at the ODS election staff in the center of Prague. The second round of senate elections ended today in the Czech Republic, in which people decided to fill 22 out of 27 senatorial seats, five senators were elected a week ago.
“Somewhere it is very tight, it looks like we could fulfill the goal that the candidates who ran for the Senate on behalf of the government coalition will be stronger,” Fiala said today. “But the most important thing is how successful the parties of the government coalition will be and how much they will strengthen other parties. Overall, I believe that we will maintain the majority we have in the Senate and that we will also fulfill the goal of Miloš Vystrčil continuing to serve as President of the Senate,” added the Prime Minister.
Around 3:00 p.m., it is clear that people elected at least four senators from the ODS club, Zdenek Hraba in the Benešov district, Martin Červíček in Náchod, Jan Tecl in Chrudim and Vladimíra Ludková in Prague 8.
The first election round was traditionally won by the ANO movement, which won two senators and finalists in 19 constituencies. ODS had nominees in nine constituencies, STAN in six, KDU-ČSL and TOP 09 equally in two, while the People’s Senator Jiří Čunek defended his mandate in the first round, as did Pavel Fischer (for TOP 09) and Petr Vícha (SOCDEM). SPD, KSČM, SEN 21 and Přísaha each had one finalist. Senator Marek Hilšer and university professor Stanislav Balík also reached the second round for their movement with the support of the Pirates as the only independent candidates.
The eighty-one-member Senate is replaced every two years by one-third. Even after the elections, the ODS and TOP 09 club will probably remain the most numerous faction with the right to nominate the chairman of the upper chamber again, so far it has at least 22 members. The Club of Elders and Independents has a certain 12 members so far, the People’s faction has 11 thanks to Čunk’s victory. According to forecasts, the ANO club with SOCDEM could overtake it, which will have at least seven members thanks to the victory of Víchy and two ANO adepts. On the other hand, the club SEN 21 and the Pirates have to worry about preservation, which without reinforcements would be left with four senators, one less than necessary.
Source: www.tyden.cz
