Political parties are gradually launching their election campaign. They will invest tens of millions into it.
Parliamentary elections are awaiting us in the autumn. Some fear the rise of populism and extremism, others hide behind a battle with stagnation and alleged censorship. A number of political groups have therefore also started their own campaign, which this time does not avoid even fairly strong words. After all, have you ever thought that Czech politicians would sometimes treat their opponents with such terms as "scoundrel"?
"This year's elections will decide whether the Czech Republic will finally move forward or continue to stagnate. At the same time, we are in a serious security situation where it is more important than ever whether as the Czech Republic we will stand up for a strong Europe, or go towards Putin and his lackeys," wrote to the LP-Life editorial office the leader of the Pirates Zdeněk Hřib.
Babiš criticizes Fiala
According to the ANO movement, which is the favorite in the elections, our attention should mainly focus on the governance of Petr Fiala and his team. Babiš's group was one of the first to launch a billboard campaign, in which it claims that the current government is responsible for both tax increases and even for the rising costs of energy or medication. Despite the fact that the cabinet doesn't set drug prices at all or that energy prices are more the result of long-term developments and external influences, such as so far the dependence on source from Russia and generally, over the last several months, more falling than rising.
The First Vice-Chairman of the movement, Karel Havlíček Havlíček, told the Czech Press Office that ANO had a smaller billboard campaign at the end of last year in Prague, in the Central Bohemian and South Moravian regions.
"Now it's in all regions and besides billboards, there are also digital areas at train stations and bus stops,"
He stated for the press agency.
The Brno Office for Supervision of Political Parties' and Political Movements' Management is already dealing with the campaign. Despite this, the first vice-chairman of the movement, Karel Havlíček, is convinced that it is a matter of "purely factual" communication and a report card for the government.
The Coalition Defends
That is why representatives of the ruling coalition parties warn that the campaign is beginning to turn into a series of hateful outbursts. They also gave as an example one of the latest videos of the deputy chairwoman of ANO Alena Schillerová, in which she called Petr Fiala a scoundrel because of the convening of a meeting of the chairmen of parliamentary parties on state security.
"The elections will be crucial for the further direction of our country - whether it will remain on the path of responsible management of public finances, security and pro-western orientation, or return to populism, irresponsible borrowing and weakening our position in Europe and the world,"
ODS spokesman Jakub Skyva commented on the meaning of this year's elections to our editorial team.
The Together coalition, which consists of ODS, KDU-ČSL and TOP 09, already had a campaign last November about fulfilling the government's policy statement on two hundred billboards and through other channels. The party leaders under the slogan "Together, we do what is necessary" communicated that the cabinet has rid the Czech Republic of dependence on Russia, reduced the budget deficit, or will open 207 kilometers of new highways.
Help from specialists and volunteers
The largest parties and movements plan to spend at least tens of millions of crowns on their pre-election presentation this year. It should be noted, that in parliamentary elections, campaign expenditures must not exceed 90 million crowns.
"We will lead the campaign in a combination of our own teams and cooperation with experts in political communication,"
Added to the organization of the Together Skyva coalition campaign.
The Pirates also acknowledge the assistance of marketing professionals.
"We work, for example, with Paul Hilder, a British political strategist who has successful campaigns all over Europe under his belt. His team brings ideas based on data and analyses to our campaign, which is exactly what the Pirates do - we build on facts, not on impressions,"
Hrib explains.
The parties cannot do without volunteer support.
"We want our campaign to be authentic, close to people and focused on what is really important to them. This is not just about politics – it's about how we can collectively improve life in our country,"
claims the head of the Pirates. Stačilo! also counts on volunteers and will introduce their campaign at the end of the month. In the case of this movement, however, it is a curious fact that they currently only have ten members. And communist Kateřina Konečná, who is its face, may not even be among them. Despite this, the deputy leader of the movement Ondřej Dostál told Seznam News that they will be able to rely on the support of "tens of thousands" people.
There is still more than half a year left until the election. According to the reactions of individual top politicians, however, it is already clear that some of them will definitely not mince their words. We can therefore expect almost anything - from unplanned lies and fabrications to controlled disinformation, the aim of which is to damage their competitors.
Sources: author's text, own questioning, ČTK, Seznam Zprávy
