2024-04-19 00:24:12
Although the ODS weekend congress confirmed high support for the leading tandem of Petr Fiala and Zbyněk Stanjura, there are also critics of the current direction of the party. Leaders blame him for doing little for the market economy and freedom of enterprise, for having little courage for reforms and for breaking promises. They also criticize the excessive friendliness towards the European Union. And they point out that the government only has a year and a half left.
“Do we want capitalists?” influential ODS member Pavel Drobil asked finance minister Stanjura sharply. He sits in the wider leadership of the party, but considers himself mainly a businessman. At the congress, he described himself as a “pure-blooded capitalist”.
He aimed one critical remark after another at the leadership. He tried to prove that today’s ODS is not a party for supporters of capitalism, i.e. above all the market economy. He identified the non-functioning labor market and the labor code, which he says is “Bolshevik,” as the biggest problem in the Czech Republic.
“I understand that a practicing politician, in addition to government responsibility, likes to brag about how low unemployment we have. But in our case, something is not right. We have not been growing for several years, we have stagnated, and yet we have the lowest unemployment rate in the EU,” complained Drobil.
He reproached the government for considering the trade unions as its partner. “The trade unions are our enemy, which is very comfortable with the current crazy situation, when the master in the workplace and in the company is not the one who provides and gives work,” he said, and doubted that employees would vote for the ODS.
The trade unions immediately spoke out against his words. “We will ask the Prime Minister at the tripartite board meeting to distance himself from these words and make it clear that social dialogue is important for this government,” responded the head of the trade union confederation, Josef Středula. He added that they are already preparing protests against the planned changes to the Labor Code.
According to Drobil, Czech entrepreneurs are also at a disadvantage for other reasons. “In the single market, entrepreneurs from 20 countries have about half cheaper money than Czechs, and citizens from 20 EU countries have about half cheaper mortgages and consumer loans than Czechs,” he claimed.
“If we really want more capitalism, it won’t work without equal access to capital. Central bank regulation has reached such a level that Czech banks are no longer doing business,” he said, receiving massive applause from the delegates.
However, Drobil deviates from the party for another reason. He is a major supporter of the adoption of the euro. “I respect that for a certain ‘nationalist’ wing in the ODS, the crown is an attribute of Czech statehood. But for me and others, the euro is an attribute of the fact that if the euro is adopted, it will be very difficult for any future crazy government to derail our country from a pro-Western orientation,” he said this January in an interview for Aktuálně.cz.
Half-yearly minister
In the second half of 2010, Pavel Drobil was the Minister of the Environment in the government of Petr Nečas. He resigned after the scandal at the State Environmental Fund. Drobil’s advisor was subsequently charged with indirect bribery for allegedly asking for money for ODS. But the court acquitted him. Drobil then withdrew from politics, since 2013 he has not held any elected position. He is engaged in business in the investment group Anacot Capital.
Against the purchase of gas stations and the Green Deal
Entrepreneur and university teacher Tomáš Šalamon from Říčany also spoke with criticism. “I feel like we’ve been losing faith in the market lately. I don’t. I still think the market is the best allocator of resources, capitalism is the best system that gives everyone a chance, and the decisions of millions of people every day are better than the decisions of one minister planner,” he declared. He then called on delegates to raise their hands if they saw it the same way. However, there were not many of them. “I hope the others weren’t paying attention,” he reasoned at the weak response.
And like some others, he criticized that the government is nationalizing instead of privatizing. “We recently bought a network of gas stations. So, in addition to brewing beer and delivering packages, the state also sells fuel,” he said, referring to Budvar, Czech Post and the new network of Robin Oil gas stations, which the state bought for an estimated 4.5 billion crowns.
Tomáš Šalamon also made a critical speech at the ODS congress Photo: Radek Bartoníček
“When will the privatization of Czech Post, Budvar, Čeper, Czech Railways and other state-owned companies begin?” joined Hynek Fajmon, who sat for ODS in the European Parliament from 2004 to 2014.
He was also interested in when the government will abolish the tax on windfall profits, which he says is pointless, and will pay it primarily to ČEZ. In this way, according to Fajmon and some other delegates, the government harmed the shareholders of the semi-state company. “ODS was founded as a party that advocated a small state, low taxes and little redistribution. The reality of our republic is completely the opposite,” he complained.
Several delegates also criticized the direction of the EU. “This year, we have the first opportunity to comment on the radical Green Deal in the elections. But I ask myself how, if we have on the candidate list together politicians with fundamental differences on this topic?” Fajmon commented on the fact that ODS is going to the European elections with TOP 09.
Jan Kernes from Loun, on the other hand, argued for the preservation of coal-fired power plants. “We’ve traded prosperity for a reduction in our carbon footprint,” he lamented, saying he feared a “naive belief in solar and wind.” He asked the government to fight for the abolition of emission allowances. “Let’s say it bluntly: Reducing the carbon footprint would be nice, but prosperity is more important. We cannot afford to get poorer. Not like the Czech Republic, not like Europe,” he urged.
Stanjura: Let’s bring back the word privatization
The chairman Petr Fiala and the first vice-chairman Zbyněk Stanjura did not respond to the critical remarks of some delegates. Fiala was preparing to travel to the US on the second day of the congress, when most of the debates took place, and Stanjura did not appear again. The program was in a state of flux and the effort was to reduce the number and length of performances so that the delegates could finish on Sunday after noon.
Members could therefore hear Stanjur’s views mainly in his candidacy speech for first vice-president. He promised that the ODS would offer voters more capitalism and freedom. “We need less agenda, less bureaucracy and fewer ministries,” he said, mentioning the possibility of abolishing the Ministry of Regional Development and combining the Departments of Transport and Industry and Trade.
But Stanjura spoke only briefly and in general, which also related to the response to the call for the sale of some state-owned companies. “We should return the word privatization to the public space. Let’s talk about the sale of all or part of state-owned enterprises. For example, Czech Post, Czech Railways and others,” he announced, but immediately pointed out that it is not easy to implement such a thing.