Czech ultranationalist pushes to join government, calls to expel Ukrainian refugees
Photo: Tomio Okamura, leader of the far-right Czech SPD party (Getty Images)
Tomio Okamura, leader of the far-right SPD party in Czechia, wants his party to join the government together with ANO. He also expressed interest in three ministries at once, according to Ceske Noviny.
The ANO movement managed to win more than 34% of the votes in the elections. According to Alena Schillerová, the deputy head of the party, the movement prefers a single-party government with the support of other parties.
"But the program is important. We have no intention of making concessions on our program priorities," she noted.
According to Schillerová, negotiations are also underway regarding the direct participation of other parties in the Czech government.
Okamura said that his party has always focused on the topic of security, which is why it is interested in the Ministry of the Interior. In addition, he expressed interest in the Ministry of Defense due to the “unrestrained militarization demonstrated by Fiala’s government.”
"Our voters are very upset that not enough roads are being built and that trains are overcrowded, so the Ministry of Transport is certainly a very practical and important ministry," he added.
In the Chamber of Deputies, the far-right SPD deputies will receive 15 seats, down from the current 20.
On Friday, October 3, and Saturday, October 4, elections were held in Czechia for the lower house of parliament — the Chamber of Deputies.
After counting more than 97% of the votes, victory went to the ANO party, led by the country’s former prime minister, Andrej Babiš.
It should be recalled that before the elections, Okamura stated that if his party entered the government, he would demand the immediate removal of Ukrainian flags from government buildings.
The SPD leader also said that as a condition for potentially joining a coalition, he would demand a revision of residence permits for Ukrainians in Czechia.
He believes that only those Ukrainians who "work in jobs that Czechs are not interested in" should remain in the country.
