Czech Party Chairman on EU Elections: We All Respect the Results

Sputnik spoke to Chairman of the Czech Freedom and Direct Democracy Party and Vice-Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Parliament Tomio Okamura to discover his view on the results of the European elections.
Sputnik

Sputnik: It seems that the political struggle in the Czech Republic is being taken to the streets. There are various movements in the country that try to agitate voters in other ways. There are various non-governmental and non-profit organisations… Are you afraid that you could miss something important if you don't pay attention to this?

Tomio Okamura: I don't think so. Our party has already organised a lot of civilian demonstrations and protests. We have experience. We understand well, how and to what extent we should organise people. We are a party that is always on the streets, where we are agitating voters. It's important that people go to the polls. Only elections determine the composition of political representation. I wonder how these election results will excite initiatives, for example, of the campaign "Million Moments for Democracy" ("Milion chvilek pro demokracii" — an association that organises demonstrations for the resignation of Justice Minister Marie Benešová — ed.) and so on. We want people to go to demonstrations. I wish our opponents hadn't interfered with our demonstrations. Perhaps they're used to it, they probably like it.

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Sputnik: Is it likely that protests will radicalise and that there will be an attempt at an unconstitutional seizure of power?

Tomio Okamura: We have deep-rooted civil principles. At the moment, there is no danger. We have Milos Zeman in Prague Castle (the residence of the Czech president)… We all respect the election results. Political ambitions must be decided in elections, not in public squares. We must always follow the constitution. Thank God, currently constitutional forces prevail.

The views expressed in this article are those of the speaker and do not necessarily reflect those of Sputnik.

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