While the joint candidate of the Citizen Democrats, Topkars and People’s Party for the House of Representatives in the fall of 2021 had a certain logic within the so-called anti-Babiš coalition, and these parties together, after the election results were tallied, automatically continued with the Pirate Party and the Elders and Independents movement in the government.
In the case of elections to the European Parliament, the candidates and parties from one candidate immediately after the election results are tallied will split into completely different Brussels factions. Therefore, the common candidate has no logic.
How can Alexandr Vondra for ODS and Luděk Niedermayer for TOP 09 be on the same candidate list, when for the entire five years since the last election they have been publishing completely, but completely diametrically different views on European politics? On the green transformation, on illegal migration, on all the fundamental issues of European politics?
I understand that for the leaders of the ODS government, the European candidate TOGETHER is another cementing element to maintain the unity of the government. With falling preferences and declining government popularity, sooner or later one of the governing parties will want to become independent. Even in the European Parliament, two or four mutually blocking Czech MPs would not be distinguishable among the other seven hundred. There is no problem there.
The problem is domestic politics, voters, but also ODS members who do not understand such a candidate and are confused. Do we vote for the TOGETHER candidate’s criticism of the Green Deal and the ban on cars with internal combustion engines, or do we vote for an ultra-green transformation damaging Czech industry and competitiveness? You can’t choose both.
Therefore, the joint candidate of ODS, TOP 09 and KDU-ČSL for the European Parliament does not make sense and will only confuse voters. Voters of the Citizen Democrats. And as a result, it may become another internal problem of the political integrity of the ODS. Howgh!
