- Hans Weber
- November 1, 2024
Kalousek and the 11% threshold
PM Petr Fiala told CNN Prima News last week that he can’t imagine ex-Finance Min. Miroslav Kalousek on Spolu’s candidate list for next year’s EU elections given what Kalousek has said about the coali tion government. Fiala added that he’s confident that TOP 09 will make the proper decision in this respect. Inherent in his statement is the assumption that it’s in the coalition’s best interest for TOP 09
to keep Kalousek off the ticket when its leadership meets on Thur. If Kalousek were allowed to run, it could seriously disrupt relations within the Spolu coalition, but it might actually save the Spolu coali-
tion over the longer term. The latest Kantar CZ poll for Czech TV gives Spolu an 18.5% rating for the next parliamentary elections. The threshold for a three-party coalition is 11%. If Kalousek is denied a spot on the Spolu ticket and then decides to form a new political party, he might be able to steal so many voters from TOP 09, ODS and KDU-ČSL that Spolu falls below the 11% threshold in the elections. Shipping Kalousek off to Brussels and Strasbourg might be asmall price to pay for keeping the Spolu parties in Parliament.
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