Prague finally gets new mayor five months after elections

UPDATE: Leader of the Prague arm of the Spolu coalition Bohuslav Svoboda has been elected the new mayor of Prague by 50 votes, replacing Zděnek Hřib (Pirates).

Prague will finally have a new mayor. The Czech capital is the only municipality that does not have new management after the elections that were held last September. Never before in modern Czech history have post-election negotiations lasted so long.

The Pirates, Mayors and Independents (STAN), and the Spolu alliance signed a coalition agreement in Prague yesterday setting the terms for cooperation among the parties that will rule the city. The parties combined hold a majority of 36 seats in the 65-member City Assembly.

The Spolu alliance is composed of the Civic Democrats (ODS), Christian Democrats (KDU-ČSL), and TOP 09.

Now that the agreement has been finalized, the City Assembly can elect 11 city councilors, including the mayor. The vote will take place later today.

Bohuslav Svoboda (ODS), the leader of Spolu's Prague branch, is the coalition’s candidate for mayor and with he agreement in place is certain to be elected by the City Assembly. Svoboda was previously the mayor of Prague between 2010 and 2013.

In the new City Council, the Pirates will have four members, STAN two, and Spolu five seats with three for the ODS and two for TOP 09. The KDU-ČSL will have no seats in the Council but will receive the chairmanship of two City Assembly committees.

ODS member Zdeněk Zajíček, who heads of the Spolu group in the City Assembly, said the new coalition wants to focus on cooperation with the state, energy self-sufficiency and security, and housing.

Spolu won the local elections in Prague with 19 mandates, followed by ANO with 14 mandates, the Pirates with 13, Praha sobě with 11, STAN with five, and Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) with three.

The coalition has already offered the opposition parties chairperson positions on eight of the City Council's 22 committees. The four posts will be occupied by ANO, three by Praha Sobě, and one by the SPD. Coalition parties will fill the remaining positions posts.