The Social Democracy has a new leadership since the weekend. Former Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Jana Maláčová will try to raise the party from the bottom. Some former ministers have already left in protest against her election. What is the new president’s plan?
SOCDEM chairman Jana Maláčová was the guest of Pám se me.
The Social Democrats elected a new chairperson over the weekend. The former head of the party, Michal Šmarda, who did not run again due to poor election results, will be replaced at the head of SOCDEM by the former Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, Jana Maláčová.
Former ministers Tomáš Petříček and Petra Buzková spoke in protest against her election. They do not like the direction indicated by Maláčová, who wants to go to the parliamentary elections with a broad left-wing coalition. Her role model is the French left-wing New People’s Front (NFP).
It will mean cooperation with the coalition Enough! Kateryna Konečné? “He is a key player. We can all calculate that. But at this moment we don’t want to be an appendage,” replied Maláčová, adding that she expects negotiations on a new left-wing alliance to take place within weeks or months. “We have to go together and we have to show something. At this moment, the stabilization of Social Democracy is the alpha and omega.”
Its new leader has no signs that further departures from the party will follow. “No, I said that at the convention and I always behaved like that, everyone’s door is open to me. Give me criticism to my face, I take it to heart. And let’s come to an agreement somehow. Social democracy lies on the ground. Let’s get the former famous party together, because I really think this is the last attempt,” said Maláčová.
SOCDEM will join forces with the coalition Enough! and the communist Kateřina Konečná? What does the departure of familiar faces mean for the party? And how does the new chairman of the Social Democrats want to reach out to lost voters?
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What was said in the conversation?
1:00 You are taking over a side that is not in very good shape. It is at the bottom, it has fallen out of the Chamber of Deputies, it hovers around two percent in preferences. What was the first thing you did to start the party? – These are organizational things. And then team building and political work. That means I talk to people, I explain our policy. And I try to build intensive communication on social networks.
3:00 Who’s on your team? – I got the board as I asked for it. A small action board and with the faces I asked fellow party members for. The most famous face is Lubomír Zaorálek, the matador of Czech politics and Social Democracy. As for the advisory boards, I’ll be building that over the next few weeks. I would definitely like to resurrect the professional background of the Social Democracy, that has always been our pride. I would like to use the potential that we have, we have a lot of former ministers, as well as prime ministers, so I would like to ask them to function in something that I call the council of elders.
5:00 Do you already have specific names in mind? – No, it’s a fresh thing. I haven’t approached those people yet, so I’ll be careful. But in prototype form, I would like to collaborate with the same people as in the past, from Vladimír Špidla, Milan Štěch to Zdeněk Škromach. Just names that Social Democracy had in the past and people who were successful.
6:00 a.m. Petra Buzková and Tomáš Petříček announced after the results of your party’s convention that they are leaving the Social Democracy because they do not agree with the further indicated direction of the party. Are you sorry? – I have already said that I thank them for their work and that I wish them all the best in their future life and political activities. (…) If someone decides that material issues should not be primary and it is in such a way that he wants to leave the Social Democracy after such a long time, then nothing can be done about it and I will not evaluate it. A peaceful, reasonable separation is probably the best solution for everyone.
8:00 Are you expecting any more departures? – No, I said that at the convention as well and I always acted like everyone had an open door for me. Give me criticism to my face, I really take it to heart. And let’s come to an agreement somehow. Social democracy lies on the ground. And let’s get the former glory side together because I really think this is the last shot.
9:00 In what state did Michal Šmarda leave the party? – We all know the numbers, so now the most important thing is to get people together, the organizational background and start producing the policy. I make no secret of the fact that I like good old social democratic politics, the reason why Social Democracy was created to represent the interests of workers. Because this happens to be an extremely hot issue, the number one topic in Czech politics, because this government has not managed the economy and it is the working people who are suffering the most.
9:30 How are you doing financially? – We are in the red every month and we will deal with it. The committee will meet on Thursday and it is the first thing we will deal with.
10:00 Will you have to sell any other properties? – At the moment, the sale of smaller properties is finishing up, and we will see how it develops. I am not in favor of selling the property, because honestly, the little people, as we call them, were built by our ancestors with their own hands. And I really don’t like the idea that we will sell it and use it for so-called campaigns.
11:00 What about sponsors? – We should follow the path followed by the social democracies around us. I have very good contacts in all surrounding countries. And there are regular fundraising campaigns. I think not now, but in a few months. I think it would suit us very well and it is also something that corresponds to our electorate.
12:00 Why did you want Lubomír Zaorálek as your representative, statutory first vice-chairman? It is a face that is inextricably linked to Social Democracy. On the other hand, he was also involved in a number of different electoral failures. – One of the other reasons why Social Democracy is where it is is the constant shifting of blame from one person to another and such finger-pointing: He is to blame. I don’t think it can go on like this anymore, there is almost nowhere to fall. So that it is not just another proclamation. Let’s just stop looking for culprits, let’s stop soaping each other. So it’s important that people talk to each other. And Lubomír Zaorálek sees it the same way.
14:00 You stated that there is a need to unite on the left. In the Czech Republic, Kateřina Konečná, chairperson of the KSČM, who created the coalition Stačilo! Have you started dealing with her yet? – No. It’s not on the agenda now. The stabilization of Social Democracy is important now. And the moment they feel that the acute fires have been put out, that we already have a functional party, then we will start solving a political strategy.
15:00 And isn’t there already room for you to openly say whether you want to deal with her or not? Because it is logically offered. – He is a key player. We can all calculate that. No doubt about it. But at this moment we really don’t want to be an appendage, we don’t want to be a junior partner. If you watched the Congress of Social Democracy, that was the biggest concern. And I told fellow party members that we have to get along and we have to show something. At this moment, the stabilization of Social Democracy is simply the alpha and omega.
17:00 What time horizon are we talking about? – Expected weeks, months.
19:00 At the moment you are realistically a weaker partner, because the Social Democracy’s preferences are significantly lower, and Kateřina Konečná has two electoral successes behind her in the European and regional elections. How do you want to turn this around in a few weeks? – I am now dealing with the inheritance I took over. And we’ll see. The next months will decide. (…) But in order not to repeat the scenario from 2021 next year, where a million votes are lost, we have to come to an agreement somehow.
19:30 Do you think the so-called Bohumín resolution from 1995, which is still valid, prevents possible cooperation with Kateřina Konečná? – We do not know in what position we will go into those negotiations, what the result will be. So that’s another big question. We will deal with it as soon as it is on the table.
20:00 Even before the election, you said that you would like to have ten basic program points, which would perhaps be a unifying line for parties on the left. Among them, so that membership in the European Union is not called into question. But I was surprised that you did not mention the indisputability of membership in the North Atlantic Alliance among those priorities. – No, because at this moment I do not perceive that this is a topic, because we are and will be in NATO. – But Kateřina Konečná, for example, questions it. – Let’s compare it. I often explain in Social Democracy that when you live with someone, the rhetorical question is: Do you and that person agree on everything? Maybe not with my partner. And I don’t understand why this is expected from political parties that work together.
21:00 Across the left-wing entities, we have a huge agreement on wages, pensions, healthcare, education, energy, housing. All of this is in disarray because of the current government, and if we want to push through important things, we have to come to an agreement somehow.
21:30 To what extent is the North Atlantic Alliance a kind of distant foreign policy? Because we’re after all war. – The position of the Social Democracy does not change. We are the political force that brought the Czech Republic into the EU and NATO. (…) And domestic politics should take precedence over foreign politics.
23:00 Aren’t you seriously afraid that the force with which you would eventually join forces, for example in the elections, if it turned out that way, would question something as fundamental as NATO membership? – I think there is a bit of hysteria around it. (…) At this moment, I do not see a majority in the Czech political force that would like to withdraw from the EU or NATO. I think that is exaggerating. And instead of addressing domestic issues, such as the huge drop in living standards, an artificial agenda is now being set. I do not perceive at this moment that anyone would question our Western European anchoring. – Apart from Kateřina Konečná… – Well, yes, but it is not on the agenda as a topic.
I am asking, Marie Bastlová
Podcast Marie Bastlova. Hard talk interviews with people who have influence, responsibility, information.
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