A larger part of the opposition is asking for an extraordinary meeting of the representatives of Prague

The Prague opposition ANO and Praha are asking each other to convene an extraordinary meeting of representatives. At the meeting, they want to address the Nové Holešovice joint venture, financing of non-teaching staff, financing of transport constructions and the audit of the municipal company Operátor ICT. This follows from a letter to Mayor Bohuslav Svobod (ODS) signed by the chairpersons of representative clubs Patrik Nacher (ANO) and Adam Scheinherr (Prague itself), which was sent to ČTK on Thursday. The request was signed by 24 out of 65 representatives, while the signature of at least a third of the representatives is required to convene a meeting.

According to the letter, the reason for submitting the application is the lack of information provided by the city management to the opposition and the people of Prague. According to the opposition, it is necessary to discuss the above-mentioned topics publicly and thus avoid a number of speculations that arise, according to it.

“We want to talk constructively about the problems that plague Prague. Unfortunately, the arguments of the current coalition have not brought any results yet, so we are asking for the convening of an extraordinary assembly. We already wanted to include most of these points at the regular meeting of the Prague City Council (ZHMP) in March, but the coalition refused to discuss them,” Scheinherr told ČTK.

The opposition representatives want to solve the joint venture Nové Holešovice, which established a transport company (DPP) with the companies Karlín Group and CPI Property Group to develop the Nádraží Holešovice metro station and its surroundings. Prague councilors discussed the fate of the company several times on Monday, but they still did not agree on the next course of action. Some councilors want DPP to step down from the business and others are against it.

The representatives discussed the future of non-teaching staff already in February this year, when they decided that the management of Prague must negotiate with the government to increase the allowance for non-teaching staff at least to the level of the previous year. Based on the decision of the Ministry of Education (MŠMT) to shift the costs to the founders, this year Prague will lose around 480 million crowns in a year-on-year comparison.

The latest topics are the financing of transport constructions and the audit of the city company Operátor ICT, which is in charge of, for example, IT projects for the city. “Especially the first three topics are long-term problems and Nové Holešovice has already become a cause when (deputy mayor) Zdeněk Hřib (Pirates) turned 180 degrees. And we want to know how the city will react to this and who would pay for any damages. The topics are so serious that they deserve a separate discussion at the council,” said Nacher.

The opposition requested discussion of some of the topics already at previous meetings, but unsuccessfully. “We will try to get the program approved and we will discuss everything. Personally, I will refuse to allow them to answer us as part of discussing the program, that is not the purpose of discussing the program,” added Nacher.

The ANO movement finished in second place in the municipal elections in Prague in 2022 with a gain of 19.33 percent of the vote, which represents 14 mandates in the 65-member council. Prague itself was fourth with a gain of 14.72 percent, i.e. with 11 mandates. The election was won by the Spolu coalition (ODS, TOP 09 and KDU-ČSL), which governs together with the Pirates and STAN and has a majority of 36 votes in the council.