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For the first time in 22 years, the conservative Civic Democratic Party (ODS) has lost control of Prague. On May 23, the municipal council dismissed Mayor Bohuslav Svoboda and two representatives of his party, while two others resigned.
Svoboda, who was renowned for his pledge to fight corruption in the city, was let down by the centre-right TOP 09 party, with which he had formed a coalition. Is it a “betrayal” by TOP 09, who, with the help of the social democrats and a communist, liquidated a functioning coalition, or is it the result of conflicts within the ODS, wonders Lidové noviny.
The daily remarks that “the affair has also had an impact on the [national] centre-right coalition government.” Prime Minister Petr Nečas has claimed that his partner, vice-president of TOP 09 and Minister of Finance Finances Miroslav Kalousek is responsible for the “Prague crisis”.
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