Watching American right wingers being like, “Look, the reason why fascism is back in Italy is a backlash to crazy leftist policies, but also I like what she says and hope to emulate her”.
Good to know that ANO did not gain any seats in the Senate.
Bad news is that the coalition became stronger there.
Still no viable leftist party exists in the Czech Republic and I don’t see it happening in the near future. Country is more likely to move right in response to disapproving of the coalition.
So are the Syrian war migrants excited to go back home or do they now prefer life in Europe? I’ve been seeing lots of Youtube Syrian tourist videos, so assuming things can’t be too bad there now.
No idea. I do know that the Czech Republic is a very Islamophobic country. Only 0.2% of the population identifies as Muslim.
Holy shit I just left Serbia on Monday.
That situation’s been ramping up for months. Should be fine though. Not like there’s anything else going on in Europe right now or a recent history of genocide and stuff in the region.
Sucks. I kinda wanted to go to Kosovo some time next year as I felt that the story I was told between Serbs and Kosovan Albanians was pretty one-sided.
Any time you think America is far to the right…
Remember that 40% of men (and a shocking 23% of women) in Czech Republic believe that women are to be blamed for being raped.
Sometimes I forget how far backwards this country is with some things.
Europe has crazy politics, too complicated and too many things to keep track of. US is chess, Europe is 3D chess.
Among other things there’s Hungry voting against funding for Ukraine, Poland protecting Hungry to cover its ass for bad judicial appointments, and this:
You could be a midwit and follow this stuff closely and probably get a fellowship somewhere. Hell, could get a fellowship if you just understood the EU and its regulatory powers. Certainly would have been useful for the UK.
Here’s an article on one Polish court ruling against the legitimacy of another: Polish constitutional court has lost ability to adjudicate lawfully, rules top administrative court | Notes From Poland
There are still 3,000 NATO troops in Kosovo from the last time the Serbs were unpleasant.
Of course this is the day that I planned a vacation to Kosovo.
Hopefully, they settle their beef by March. I’m sure that’s not much to ask.
In non-UK political news, there’s a presidential election coming up in the Czech Republic.
It should be noted that the president in Czech Republic is basically a figurehead in terms of hard power and thank God for that. They generally don’t do much. However, they do represent the image of the country in a way that a European monarch does these days.
Prior to the election of the current president, they used to be picked by MPs. The current president, Milos Zeman, is the first president of the Czech Republic to be elected by direct election. He was elected to two five-year terms and now he cannot be reelected.
The Czech presidential election runs similar to the French election. You have a bunch of people running. People vote and if one candidate gets 50%, there’s no round 2. If no one gets 50%, then the top two run again the next week. The main difference is that most candidates are actually not politicians in the traditional sense. As a matter of fact, only three of the nine candidates this year have been elected to federal public office in the past. Three of them have zero political experience of any kind while the other three have been selected to positions. Out of the aforementioned nine, only two are members of a political party (though most of the independent candidates have the support of political party leaders).
I will divide these candidates into three groups: The Longshots (those with <5% of the vote), “SPOLU Recommends” (candidates running with the support of the center-right coalition), and The Favorite. I will split this into parts because it might take a while.
The Longshots
Karel Diviš
Age: 46
Party: Independent
Political Experience: None
Most recent poll result: 0.7%
Diviš is a former sports journalist who then became successful in IT by setting up a flight tickets website. He’s a pro-European candidate who supports NATO and Ukraine. He would like to bring the Czech Republic closer to the EU by adopting the Euro. He supports the decentralization of Prague and bringing power to the regional governments. He also advocates for the selling of electricity to a state-owned company which can then cap the price. He is one of three candidates who is not supported by a political party.
Tomáš Zima
Age: 56
Party: Independent
Political Experience: None
Most Recent Poll Result: 1.5%
His history as a member of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSCM) during the 1980s pretty much doomed him from the start. But he got enough Senators recommendations to be eligible. Like Divis, he is opposed to any further restrictions on gun ownership in the Czech Republic (yes, this is also a thing here). Unlike Divis, he was pushing COVID-19 pseudoscience in 2020 until he got COVID himself in 2021 and needed to be placed on ECMO in order to survive, nearly getting himself the Herman Cain Award in the process. His brush with death didn’t stop him from pushing these theories as Rector of Charles University later on though.
Jaroslav Bašta
Age: 74
Political Party: SPD (far-right)
Political Experience: Extensive, though in mostly unelected positions. Currently a MP in Chamber of Deputies
Most Recent Poll Result: 2.9%
His political career started while Zeman was Prime Minister and head of the Social Democrats. Like Zeman, his ideology shifted further to the right over time and after some cushy roles in the 2000s as ambassador to Russia and Ukraine, he went on to join the far-right SPD and was elected to be a representative last year. He holds boiler plate far-right views and is the candidate of choice for pro-Russia Czechs.
Josef Středula
Age: 55
Political Party: Independent, though supported by Social Democrats
Political Experience: Current President of Czech-Moravian Confederation of Trade Unionists
Most Recent Poll Result: 3.9%
He is the closest thing to a left-wing candidate in the presidential election. Problem is that he is part of the “Old Left” which lost relevance and popularity after hitching their wagon to Andrej Babis when he was prime minister. A report was also released showing that his campaign is being financed by Chinese and Russian corporations in the energy and finance sector. Although he is technically an independent candidate, he is running with the official support of Milos Zeman. It’s a damn shame even though he’s mostly surrounded by pieces of shit, his economic proposals sound good. But socially, fucking Zeman supports him for fuck’s sake.
Marek Hilšer
Age: 46
Political Party: Independent
Political Experience: Senator for Prague 2, finished 5th in 2018 presidential election
Most Recent Poll Result: 5.1%
A center-left candidate that’s pro-European/NATO and supports Ukraine against Russia. The Senators who got him officially nominated are affiliated with the PirSTAN coalition, a center-left coalition that lost to the center-right coalition in 2021 before merging to form a government. Unlike Stredula, he has no affiliation with the Old Left while still holding more leftist policies such as his Bernie Sanders-esque refusal to take donations from large corporations. His campaign promises center around some pretty reasonable, left-leaning policies but he is careful not to use the whistles that would immediately push him into borderline irrelevance like Pirates. As seen by his 5% number, his efforts failed.
Well, I’ll do SPOLU Recommends and The Favorite later on.
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