Milos Vystrcil (ODS) was elected as Speaker of the Senate, the upper house of Czech parliament, for the fourth time today. He received 62 of the 79 votes cast, 11 fewer than two years ago. As in the previous election, there was no rival candidate.
“The Senate Speaker is only the first among equals,” said Vystrcil in his nomination speech. He said the Senate should remain faithful to freedom and democracy, and gradually become a symbol of protection, security, stability and safety, which will depend on each of its members.
According to Vystrcil, the Senate should not just be an advisor or guardian of freedoms and the democratic system, but also a kind of keystone of the parliamentary system.
“We should be able to communicate with the government, with the Chamber of Deputies and with the president,” Vystrcil said.
Vystrcil was first elected as Senate speaker in February 2020, succeeding Jaroslav Kubera (ODS), who died suddenly a month earlier. Vystrcil was elected for the second time in November 2020, not long after fulfilling Kubera’s plans to visit Taiwan despite pressure from mainland China and President Milos Zeman, who subsequently stopped inviting Vystrcil to Prague Castle.
Vystrcil was elected speaker for the third time in early November 2022, receiving 73 of the 80 votes cast in the secret ballot, just as he had two years earlier.
After this year’s Senate elections, which were won by the opposition ANO, the Senate group of ODS and TOP 09 coalition parties lost six seats and now has 30 members, the same number as the Christian Democrats (KDU-CSL) and Mayors and Independents (STAN) groups combined. The ANO group has 14 members, and the SEN 21/Pirates group has five members. Independent Senators Daniela Kovarova and Jana Zwyrtek Hamplova are not associated with any Senate group.
