They still want to sit on two chairs. MPs are again running for the leadership of cities and municipalities

The current mayor of Mladá Boleslav, Jiří Bouška, who is also a member of parliament and representative of Central Bohemia, should once again stand at the head of the ANO movement and Elections for Mladá Boleslav candidates in the autumn municipal elections and defend the post of the first man in the city.

“If I can handle both functions, someone else has to judge that, probably the voters. And that’s all I would say about it,” he commented for Fairpress.

He is not alone in his approach in the House of Representatives. Vojtěch Krňanský, the motorist deputy and mayor of Chrasti in Chrudim, will also seek re-election. “I only dared to indicate that I would not be a candidate, and a wave of anger arose from the people of the city,” he told Fairpress, adding that he honestly participates in most of the votes in the House of Representatives and the meetings in his home town.

According to political scientist Michal Pink from Masaryk University, who deals with the accumulation of functions, this is a problem. “When you are a member of parliament, you have the task of voting on laws that affect the entire Czech Republic,” he described the first position and added to the second: “When you are also the mayor of a district town, you are in a conflict of interests. As a municipal representative, you defend the interests of the city and as a deputy, you defend the interests of the entire Czech Republic. That does not go together.”

As Fairpress described earlier, in last year’s elections dozens of people with positions in municipalities or regions fought their way into the lower house. Politicians from the ANO movement had the most, followed by members of TOP 09 and STAN. Some legislators have given up their posts in the regions, but most continue.

“I intend to run again for the municipal council,” Jana Bačíková, ODS member of parliament and mayor of Vacenovic in Hodonínsk, wrote to Novinkám. “Vacenovice is still one of my priorities,” she added. According to him, he performs both functions responsibly with the help of the team.

Even the mayor of Česká Kamenice na Děčínská Jan Papajanovský (STAN) does not intend to change anything. “I will try to gain the trust of the citizens and continue the work of the mayor,” he wrote to Novinkám.

The mayor of Bučovice in Vyškovsk Jiří Horák (KDU-ČSL) sees it the same way, who wants to complete “large fragmented projects” at the head of the city. And the completion of works for the city explains the repeated candidacy for the council of Jeseník and its mayor, MP Zdeňka Blišťanová (TOP 09).