Lumír Aschenbrenner leaves the ODS on 20 October 2026

Lumír Aschenbrenner, a former senator and, since 1998, mayor of the Slovany district of Plzeň, ended his membership of the ODS on 20 October 2026. He had been a party member since 1991. The announcement came from Martin Baxa, the ODS regional chairman in the Plzeň Region.[1][2][3]

Dispute in the Slovany district

The ODS won the 2026 municipal elections in the Slovany district and took eight of 31 seats. A majority was nevertheless formed by ANO, STAN and Pro Plzeň with the support of KDU-ČSL. The eight-member ODS group split: four councillors want to join the coalition, four, including Aschenbrenner, want to go into opposition.[2][3]

On the social network X, Baxa called the conduct of the local organisation incomprehensible and announced that the ODS executive council had given it a week to put things right, failing which a proposal to dissolve it would be put forward. Aschenbrenner said he would not join another party and would sit in opposition. In the Plzeň city council, to which he was elected for the ODS, he will, by his own account, serve as a non-member of the party.[1][2][3]

Earlier tension

The party leadership had already criticised Aschenbrenner before the second round of the Senate elections. He had provided billboard space to the ANO candidate Lucie Kantorová. He did not advance to the second round and did not defend his Senate seat.[3][4]

Chronology

• 20 October 2026 — Lumír Aschenbrenner, long-time head of the Slovany district in Plzeň and a former senator, left ODS after about 35 years; the party leadership gave the local organisation in Slovany a week to remedy the split in its council group and threatened to dissolve it. Novinky.cz FORUM 24

Sources

1. Novinky.cz — 20 October 2026
2. FORUM 24 — 20 October 2026
3. ČTK / České noviny — 20 October 2026
4. Seznam Zprávy — 20 October 2026