During its session on 23 October 2026, the Chamber of Deputies, with votes from the governing coalition, rejected requests from five opposition parliamentary groups for recesses in the proceedings. The session was chaired at the time by the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Tomio Okamura. The opposition described his conduct as a violation of customary practice and the rules of procedure.[1][2]
Course of the proceedings
The government side pushed through a priority debate on Friday's agenda for the bill abolishing the television and radio licence fee. Members did not get to debate the bill itself, as opposition speakers with priority speaking rights had been addressing the chamber since the morning. In the afternoon, the ODS, TOP 09, Czech Pirate Party, STAN and Christian Democrat groups requested recesses.[2]
The leader of the Motorists parliamentary group, Boris Šťastný, who is also the Minister of Sport, said that the groups were taking the breaks one after another in order to postpone the vote on abolishing the fee. According to the newspaper Novinky.cz, the recesses combined would have amounted to more than eight hours. Okamura had the motion put to an immediate vote, justifying this by the need to avoid obstruction during voting. The coalition majority rejected the recesses.[1][2]
Opposition reaction
ODS leader Martin Kupka stated during the proceedings that Okamura was violating the rules of the Chamber. The leader of the Christian Democrat group, Marian Jurečka, spoke of a breach of customary practice and the rules of procedure. STAN leader Vít Rakušan demanded that all votes since the start of Okamura's chairing be declared invalid. The leader of the ODS deputies, Marek Benda, pointed out that the Chamber had never before voted on recesses, and said that Okamura had changed the voting procedure during the session.[1][2]
The leader of the TOP 09 parliamentary group, Jan Jakob, wrote on social media that even Klement Gottwald would not have been ashamed to use such silencing of the opposition. TOP 09 leader Matěj Ondřej Havel wrote that Okamura should not be chairing the Chamber's proceedings.[2]
Okamura announced a twenty-minute break, which the Chamber's leadership subsequently extended until 18:15. The evening part of the session was opened by the first deputy chairman of the Czech Pirate Party group, Ivan Bartoš.[1]
Chronology
- — The Chamber of Deputies, with the votes of the coalition, rejected the requests of five opposition clubs for breaks in the proceedings, which according to the coalition Motorists would have delayed the vote on abolishing the television and radio fees, and the opposition called the conduct of the chair Tomio Okamura a breach of the rules of procedure. Novinky.cz FORUM 24
Sources
- Novinky.cz — 23 October 2026
- FORUM 24 — 23 October 2026