“I am not a party member and I am not a member of the KDU-ČSL, but when they came to me saying that they would like me to apply for candidacy, I responded favorably and accepted the offer. That means the filing period for the primary, which is still an internal political process, has begun, and I’ve signed up. I can confirm that,” Fischer told Novinka.
There has been long-term speculation about whether he will run in the European elections. He finally submitted his application on Wednesday. He has already been nominated by the regional committee in Prague. He has yet to receive a nomination from the district committee to run for a seat on the party’s internal primary.
The People’s Party has primary elections, where members approve applications for candidacy, on May 20.
Parish Euroleader STAN, Polčák ends in Brussels
Homemade
“I’m looking forward to the competition. I think I have something to offer. If you look at my work in the Senate, I have been there for four and a half years dealing with strong issues such as security, defense, China or Russia. And these are things that we have to solve at the European level as well. I am already dealing with them today in the Parliament and I know very well who I have the honor to work with and what we can offer. This means that for me it is basically a continuation of cooperation on things that I already have from the Senate today,” he explained his motivation.
Fischer’s term in the Senate ends next fall. The European elections will be before that in May. He does not yet know whether he will defend his mandate in the upper chamber.
“I can’t tell you that, because the internal process, which started with me signing up for the primaries, is far from closed. So I remain committee chairman and I remain in the Senate as an unaffiliated non-partisan, nothing changes. But the fact that I want to help in the European elections is true,” he said.
“I Don’t Know Who’s Gonna Be On The Poster”
He did not say what place on the candidate list he envisions. For example, MEP and deputy chairman of the People’s Party Tomáš Zdechovský is grinding his teeth for the position of leader. “I don’t know who will be on the poster or what the order of the candidates will be. I won’t tell you that now,” Fischer pointed out.
At the same time, the People’s Party is still deciding whether they will go to the elections alone or in a coalition with Spolu. The parties are currently working on their analysis and have another meeting scheduled. “If they decide to go alone or as part of a coalition, I will not influence now. If they ask me for an opinion, I’ll say it, but I haven’t even tried to formulate it now. I don’t know,” he answered when asked what he would lean towards.
The People’s Deputy Hayato Okamura has already announced his candidacy in the European elections, the first deputy governor of South Bohemia František Talíř and the deputy minister of health Václav Pláteník also want a place on the candidate list. Zdechovský and MEP Michaela Šojdrová plan to defend the mandate.
Fischer has been a senator since 2018, twice unsuccessfully ran for president. In the past, he worked in Václav Havel’s team, and was also ambassador to France and Monaco.
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Homemade
