26 June 2024
On Tuesday, 25 June, representatives of the regional organizations Martin Baxa (ODS) and Ilona Jehličková (TOP 09) signed a coalition agreement to run jointly in the regional elections in the Pilsen Region. It was also signed by the national party chairmen Petr Fiala and Markéta Pekarová Adamová. The leader of the joint candidate is Jan Šašek, 40, a current regional councillor and former deputy mayor of Rokytnice for the ODS. TOP 09 is led by Richard Pikner, the chief of the Klatovy Hospital. The main themes of the coalition will be effective regional administration, quality education, affordable health services and development of transport infrastructure.
"We are going into the elections with the aim of winning, and victory will mean that we will be a coalition without which it will be impossible to form a majority in the regional council. The Pilsen region and the people who live here with us deserve more than just being a region of assembly plants. I am proud of the region I come from, and I want everyone else who lives there to feel pride in their region too. That's why I want to bring new opportunities for people in the county to develop both professionally and personally, as well as making sure that key services are available for a happy life. Whether that's healthcare, transport services, quality education or even a sense of security. I am confident that together we can do this," summarises his approach to the leadership of the Pilsen Region Jan Šašek (ODS).
The joint candidacy is a continuation of the successful cooperation from the last regional elections. After the elections, the coalition wants to focus on supporting and creating conditions for value-added investments for both the region and its inhabitants instead of assembly plants. Ensuring quality education and better linking the private sector with secondary schools is also a priority. The coalition is also thinking about improving safety in the city of Pilsen and in other, mainly industrial, areas of the Pilsen Region, as well as improving transport infrastructure. An equally important topic is the support of the currently declining regional health care system and the expansion and development of affordable health care throughout the region.
"The decline of regional health care after two years of its administration by the Pirates is unfortunately evident. The number of doctors in the region is declining and the availability of health care, especially in the sparsely populated areas of the region, is becoming very poor. We must change this. And I do not mean that the county necessarily has to provide it. But we need to create the conditions for both doctors and potential private health care facilities to come to our county and provide that care to our residents. We know these examples from other counties, and I see no reason why it shouldn't work here." describes the current situation in the healthcare sector and his vision for its development Richard Pikner from TOP 09.
"The Pilsen region is a great place to live. It is in our common interest to keep it that way. ODS and TOP 09 cooperate effectively within SPOLU at the national level. It is therefore more than logical that we have preferred a similar model within the Pilsen Region. I believe that we will be successful. We have a vision, we have a plan and we know how we want to develop our region. I think that we all want a thoughtful and honest approach to managing the region and solving the problems that our region has. Safety, health care, economic development opportunities - all of these will be addressed. We want to work together to improve these areas of life," Says Martin Baxa, Chairman of the Pilsen ODS.
"In the Pilsen Region, we are close to each other in the sense that we have a very similar view of the direction we want to take the region and how to develop it. We want the administration of the region to complicate the lives of the inhabitants as little as possible, but on the contrary, we want to be able to support them in what they need. In addition, after the last elections, we began to prepare a number of new projects, but these have been stalled since the Valentine's Day coup, and the current regional administration is standing still and failing to act. And that is our main goal - to bring the Pilsen Region back together," comments on the joint candidacy of the chairman of the TOP 09 Pilsen Region Petr Suchy.
"In the Pilsen Region we are close to each other in the sense of having a very similar view of the direction we want to take the region and how to develop it. We want the administration of the region to complicate the lives of the inhabitants as little as possible, but on the contrary we want to be able to support them in what they need. In addition, after the last elections, we began to prepare a number of new projects, but these have been stalled since the Valentine's Day coup, and the current regional administration is standing still and failing to act. And that is our main goal - to bring the Pilsen Region back together," comments on the joint candidacy of the Vice-Chair of TOP 09 of the Pilsen Region Ilona Jehličková.
The joint candidacy of ODS and TOP 09 is also supported by its national chairmen, Petr Fiala and Markéta Pekarová Adamová.
"I am happy about the merger of ODS and TOP 09 in the Pilsen Region. After years of stagnation, the team of competent people on our candidate list is ready to bring the region back on track. People in the region know that in the past we have already come up with a number of projects, but the current coalition has stopped them. Whether it is the new building of the West Bohemian Gallery or the reconstruction of the hospital in Rokycany. This is proof of stagnation and the need for bold leadership with vision and energy again. It is this energy, courage and experience that our leader and candidate for governor, Jan Šašek and his team can offer the region. Let's move towards a better tomorrow in the Pilsen Region!" said the ODS chairman Petr Fiala.
"The cooperation between TOP 09 and ODS in the Pilsen Region has been working well for a long time. I am happy about that, and in this year's elections our joint candidate is the only one who can compete with the populists for victory. On the candidate list, voters can choose from a number of quality personalities who have experience not only in municipal politics, but also in key areas, such as Dr Pikner, who has experience in regional health care. It is not only quality health care that will be the focus of his program priorities. I believe that voters in the Pilsen Region will appreciate this," says the TOP 09 chairwoman Markéta Pekarová Adamová.
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