Pirates end up in government

“The Pirates supported the withdrawal of the party from the coalition agreement due to a substantial violation of the contractual terms by Prime Minister Petr Fiala. 709 of the 894 Pirates members who took part in the internet voting were in favor. 79.3 percent of voters expressed their support for the proposal. Pirates’ ministers Jan Lipavský and Michal Šalomoun will resign on Tuesday, October 1,” Pirates wrote on the X network.

“The prime minister violated everything that was stated in the coalition agreement about similar situations. In such a situation, it is not possible to remain in the government, which has now been confirmed by the membership of the Pirates. In response, tomorrow (Tuesday) our parliamentary club will adopt an official resolution aimed at the resignation of the remaining ministers for the Pirates,” said Ivan Bartoš in a subsequent press release.

“I think that after less than a week of conjecture, the citizens mainly want to hear how we will solve their problems. And that’s what we have to focus on – the work ahead. Of course, nothing changes in the opposition regarding the pirate priorities, which were written into the program statement of the entire government,” he added, adding that the Pirates intend to be a “tough, but constructive and fair opposition”.

Voices were heard from part of the membership that the Pirates should leave the cabinet, repeatedly in the past. The change in the party’s thinking was only caused by a series of lost elections, most recently the regional and senate ones, and Prime Minister Fiala’s decision last Monday to remove Ivan Bartoš (Pirates) from the position of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Regional Development due to problems with the digitization of construction management. The pirates consider the proposal to remove their outgoing prime minister from the government to be sacked and thus initiated a party vote.

After Monday’s meeting with President Petr Pavlo, Bartoš said that the head of state is ready to accept his proposal for an appeal. Prime Minister Fiala subsequently announced on Monday evening that Pavel had already done so and that the management of the department would be temporarily taken over by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Marian Jurečka (KDU-ČSL).

On Tuesday, the pirate foreign ministers Jan Lipavský and the Minister for Legislation Michal Šalomoun will also resign.

Lipavský already announced last week from his work trip in the USA that his departure from the cabinet will probably be connected with his resignation from the party. It is speculated that he could remain in the government as a non-partisan for Spolu. Fiala met with Lipavský on Monday to discuss how things will be in the future.

The leaders of the coalition parties on Monday, after a meeting with President Petr Pavlo, would be in favor of Lipavský continuing as a non-party member at the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They did not want to talk about a possible party T-shirt. In the event that Lipavský decides not to continue in the government, according to its chairwoman Markéta Pekarová Adamová, TOP 09 has ready substitutes. “We make no secret of the fact that foreign policy is one of our priorities,” she said on Monday.

Prime Minister Fiala said on Monday evening that he could imagine Lipavský continuing to function as a non-party member in the cabinet. “I would see it as an advantage for the government and the Czech Republic as such,” he added, adding that he intends to negotiate with Lipavský after he submits his resignation.

The government coalition will still have a safe majority of 104 votes in the House of Representatives without the four pirate deputies. Fiala said at the weekend that he would like to have clarity on the shape of the reconstructed government within two weeks.

Bartoš’s resort wants to claim the coalition movement STAN, which ran together with the Pirates in the parliamentary elections in 2021. The position of Minister for Legislation will probably be abolished, but it is not clear whether any of the ministers will get the position of Deputy Prime Minister for Digitization, which was held by Bartoš.