Chair of Czech fascist party SPD says the ANO party will be its closest political partner after the elections, "theoretically"
The chair of the fascist "Freedom and Direct Democracy" (SPD), Tomio Okamura, has said that the closest partner for his movement after the next elections to the lower house in the Czech Republic will be the Association of Dissatisfied Citizens (ANO) movement, "theoretically". Speaking on the CNN Prima News discussion program "Partie", he made the statement when asked with whom the SPD would want to go into government if elected.
Okamura also claimed to know that the ANO movement, chaired by former Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, has been holding internal meetings about the option of collaborating with the Civic Democratic Party (ODS), which is currently part of the five-party coalition government. The country’s next elections to the lower house are scheduled for autumn 2025.
“The closest possible partner would be the parties which make it into the Chamber of Deputies and have nothing in common with Fiala’s governing coalition,” Okamura said. “Theoretically the closest partner would be the ANO movement because there is no other opposition party there.”
“It’s important that the result achieved means we can tip the scales in our favor. During the last election that almost happened. It is realistic. One counts the rabbits after the hunt,” Okamura said of the SPD’s election goals.
“I know internal meetings are underway between ANO and ODS. I’m curious. If ANO wants to go into government with ODS, their voters would probably not welcome that prospect,” he said, without adding any details to that speculation.
Senator Miloš Vystrčil, who has been a member of the ODS for many years, gave an interview to the daily Právo in which he said collaborating with ANO at government level is absolutely out of the question. The Civic Democrats, in his view, should distance themselves from the ANO movement, now in opposition.
