Second round of Senate elections: Half of candidates support anti-corruption bills

In the past few weeks, scores of citizens have met with their Senate candidates to find out if they are prepared to vote for the standards against corruption and clientelism, recommended by the Reconstruction of the State platform. Before the first round of Senate elections, 120 candidates out of a total of 253 across the political party spectrum and election districts acceded to our initiative. Twenty-nine of these supporters were among the candidates who advanced to a run-off. In one fifth of the districts it is already certain that the elections will bring yet another project supporter to the Senate.

“Very much is at stake, namely, one trillion crowns. The current Senate does not support legislation which would enable independent surveillance over one trillion crowns, expended annually from the budgets of regions, municipalities, and municipal as well as state-owned enterprises. The constitutional amendment involved prevents members of the lower house of parliament from outvoting Senators. But in most election districts the bill has the support of one of the second-round candidates and consequently voters in the run-off will also decide about this anti-corruption legislation,” says Jiří Boudal from Reconstruction of the State.

A list of supporting candidates is available on www.rekonstrukcestatu.cz/senat2014. 

“Citizens are still very keen on addressing their candidates. The same goes for the candidates’ interest in expressing their attitudes to the reconstruction bills. Although they come from various political parties, they share the conviction that such measures are necessary. Importantly, we have the support of candidates with some experience with struggle against the abuse of public funds,” Boudal adds.

It is already clear that in six election districts a Senate seat will go to a politician supporting Reconstruction of the State. In Brno-City, Ostrava-City, Olomouc, Přerov, Strakonice and Kladno, both runners-up have pledged support to Reconstruction of the State. In other districts, the second round of voting will be a thrilling duel between the candidates who support Reconstruction of the State and those who have not yet acceded to the project. Candidates have time to accede by the end of this week. An updated list of candidates supporting Reconstruction of the State and advancing to the Senate run-off is available at the end of this press release.

Senate candidates have received letters from well-known public figures, such as economists Zdeněk Kudrna and Miroslav Zámečník, industrialists Zbyněk Frolík and Vratislav Kulhánek, head of the Czech Association of Small and Medium Enterprises and Smallholders Eva Svobodová, and actress Simona Babčáková. They urge the candidates to support a Constitutional amendment, which would ensure independent supervision of municipalities and municipal firms.

Media Contact
Jiří Boudal
+420 777 804 658
jiri.boudal@frankbold.org