Havlíček cut off the bidding, ANO in the Central Bohemia region is heading to the opposition

“In Central Bohemia, where we won with a lead and a profit of 33.4%, we are going to the opposition. We didn’t play for spots, we wanted a stable regional government, we preferred the lesser evil,” said Havlíček on the X network.

Helebrant also confirmed his statement to Novinka. “We gave the Spolu movement a very generous offer, they had enough time to think. I was willing to give up the post of governor, they didn’t even use that. There’s no point in lying, I’m definitely not going to bid with anyone, so there won’t be a good offer anymore. I don’t want to blackmail anyone. Mr. Skopeček didn’t take advantage of it, now he has to come to an agreement with the Mayors,” Helebrant told Novinkám.

“If they wanted to, they could have approached us, but they didn’t,” he added. “We offered a more stable government, we are able to talk with other parties, but STAN and Spolu negotiate together. For us, it only means that we are joining the opposition, it is the final decision,” Helebrant added.

ODS leader Jan Skopeček told Novinkám that he never subordinated the post-election process and negotiations to his personal ambitions. “We already announced last week that we are discussing the future coalition exclusively with our current coalition partner STAN, and at the same time we stated a few days ago that the governor’s chair is not an obstacle to the agreement. I want the region to function, to develop and not be blocked,” he told Novinkám.

He admitted that a possible coalition with STAN would not be easy because of the “weak majority” of one vote. “But I feel an obligation towards the jointly developed projects and the wishes of the center-right voters to try for such a coalition,” he added.

Skopeček appreciated the YES movement for its approach to the negotiations. “Even though we decided not to form a coalition with the ANO movement, even though we were offered the role of governor, I would like to appreciate the correct and factual dealings with the ANO movement. I firmly hope that even the opposition will be matter-of-fact. As the winner of the Central Bohemian elections, they cannot be left out of the region’s debates and decisions about long-term priorities, projects on which a broad agreement should be created in the entire council,” he concluded, saying that regional issues are more substantive than those in the House of Representatives.

STAN and Spolu have already had four post-election negotiations, but have not yet reached an agreement. According to the statements of the negotiators from both of these groupings, the ANO decision should not have an effect on their negotiations.

“We are continuing negotiations, we have clearly said that we prefer a coalition with STAN. It will not weaken our position, we need to agree on a narrow majority, this is not a fundamental problem,” responded Václav Švenda (TOP 09) from the Spolu negotiation team.

His words were also confirmed by the current governor Petra Pecková (STAN). “For us, this news changes absolutely nothing, we have declared from the beginning that we do not want to manage the region with the people who represent the ANO movement in Central Bohemia,” said Pecková in a text message sent to Novinka. “I’m only dealing with our mutual relationship, so that in the future the cooperation is clear and high-quality. And what Mr. Havlíček and Helebrant think is their business,” added Pecková.

So far, the last meeting ended with STAN insisting on keeping the post of governor for Petra Pecková and offering Spolu a majority in the regional council. After Thursday’s meeting, however, the two groups broke up in a not-so-good mood, according to STAN, the Spolu coalition presented other unacceptable demands. But nobody wants to specify them.

ODS regional council member and former senator Raduan Nwelati feels that nothing is certain yet. “It’s just an expression of the YES movement. No coalition agreement has yet been concluded with STAN. It may also happen that we will be in the opposition if I overdo it,” he told Novinkám.

The next meeting of STAN and Spolu will take place on Tuesday. “We want to come to an agreement with STAN and I think we will eventually come to an agreement,” added Josef Pátek (ODS) from the Spolu negotiation team.

In the Central Bohemia region, the ANO movement won the elections, gaining 25 mandates, the second STAN movement has 20 votes, the third Spolu has 13 mandates. 4 representatives of the SPD and Trikolor coalition and 3 people from Stačilo!