President Petr Pavel will not vote in the election to the council of the municipality of Černouček in the Litoměřice area, held on 9 and 10 October 2026, because of a private trip abroad; the Office of the President of the Republic said he regrets the planning error.
On 2 October 2026 the communication department of the Office of the President of the Republic announced on its website that President Petr Pavel will not take part in the vote in the election to the council of the municipality of Černouček in the Litoměřice area because he is abroad. It added that the president regrets the planning error. The municipal elections and the first round of the Senate elections are held on 9 and 10 October 2026; in Pavel's Senate electoral district there is no Senate vote this year.[1][2]
The trip abroad
According to the presidential office, it is a private trip outside the member states of the European Union, and the Office of the President of the Republic does not disclose the specific places. The president remains in contact with the office and is to continue his working programme on Monday 19 October with the reception of ambassadors.[1][2]
The racing driver Martin Prokop wrote on Facebook that Pavel visited the Rallye du Maroc, held from 28 September to 3 October, and posted a joint photograph. According to Deník N, the president went on a motorcycle holiday; the paper cites an unnamed senior state source.[1][2]
Date of the elections and context
The president formally set the date of the elections in June 2026. Unlike in previous elections he had no choice, because under the amendment local and regional elections are always held on the Friday and Saturday of the first full week of October.[1][2]
According to ČTK, the only president so far to have skipped any kind of election is Miloš Zeman, namely the second round of the Senate elections in October 2020; he explained his decision by the fact that the candidate he preferred had not advanced in his district.[1] The political scientist Jan Kubáček told ČTK that he does not regard the president's absence from municipal elections as anything fatal, but in his view it is somewhat unfortunate, because since the days of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk heads of state have prided themselves on going to the polls and urging others to do so.[1]
This year Pavel was privately abroad for three working days in February and at the turn of January and February; in both cases the presidential office said only that he had gone to an EU member state. He spent his summer holiday in Czechia.[1][2]
Related articles: Aleš Juchelka, ANO, Eva Pavlová, Litoměřice, Lubomír Metnar, Marian Jurečka, Petr Pavel, Černouček
Chronology
- — Interior Minister Lubomír Metnar (ANO) rejected First Lady Eva Pavlová's criticism of the communal elections, saying the electoral system would not be changed just because President Petr Pavel had planned a holiday on the election date. ČTK / České noviny Echo24
- — Both coalition and opposition politicians criticised President Petr Pavel for missing the upcoming municipal elections due to a private trip abroad; the Castle explained the absence as a planning error. Echo24 Ekonomický deník
- — President Petr Pavel will not take part in the vote in the municipal council elections in Černouček in the Litoměřice area because he will be abroad; the presidential office said he regrets the planning mistake. ČTK / České noviny Echo24
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Politicians' reactions of 4 October 2026
On 4 October 2026 coalition and opposition politicians criticised President Petr Pavel's absence from the municipal elections in the Sunday Debate (Nedělní debata) of Czech Television and in Partie Terezie Tománkové on CNN Prima News. Several of them called it a mistake and said that political representatives should set an example.[3][3][4]
Statements by ministers
The Minister of Labour and Social Affairs Aleš Juchelka (ANO) said the president may decide whether to go on holiday at the time of the elections. In his words, "the president does not want to go to the municipal elections, he swapped it for a holiday, that is his sacred right". He agreed with his predecessor at the head of the ministry, Marian Jurečka (KDU-ČSL), that politicians should be an example to people if they are to take an interest in public affairs.[3][4]
The Minister for Sport Boris Šťastný (Motoristé) said on CNN Prima News: "The president freely decided not to set an example for citizens." He added that in Černouček one vote will be missing against the candidate list on which a Motoristé council candidate appears.[3][4]
Statements by parliamentary groups
The chairman of the People's Party deputies, Marian Jurečka, called on the president to come and vote on Friday 9 October. In his view, for such high-ranking politicians it is a mistake.[4] The former Minister of the Environment Petr Hladík (KDU-ČSL) said that people should go to vote and that he has no understanding for Pavel's stance.[3][4]
The chair of the ANO parliamentary group, Taťána Malá, called the president's stance disrespect and said that the explanation of a planning error could be accepted only as "youthful recklessness". The chair of the STAN group, Michaela Šebelová, said the president's step may turn against him if he urges citizens to vote in the future, and stressed that municipal elections are important too.[3][4]
Politicians' reactions and comparison with an earlier case
The criticism was voiced on 4 October 2026 in the Sunday Debate of Czech Television and in the programme Partie Terezie Tománkové on CNN Prima News. The Minister of Labour and Social Affairs Aleš Juchelka (ANO) remarked that the president may decide whether to go on holiday and called it his right; he agreed with Marian Jurečka (KDU-ČSL) that politicians should be an example to people. Jurečka called on the president to come to vote on Friday. The Minister for Sport Boris Šťastný (Motoristé) said that the president is not setting an example for citizens and that in Černouček one vote will be missing against the candidate list on which a Motoristé council candidate stands. The chair of the ANO group, Taťána Malá, spoke of disrespect, Petr Hladík (KDU-ČSL) called the step a mistake, and the chair of the STAN group, Michaela Šebelová, said it may come back to haunt the president when he urges participation in elections.[4][3]
According to the presidential office, the president left on Friday 2 October 2026 and returns to his working programme on Monday 19 October with the reception of ambassadors. The racing driver Martin Prokop wrote on Facebook that Pavel visited a rally in Morocco. According to ČTK, Deník N reported that the president went on a motorcycle holiday.[4][3]
According to ČTK, Miloš Zeman is the only one who, as president, has not taken part in any kind of election, namely the second round of the Senate elections in October 2020, which he justified by the fact that in his district the candidate he preferred, Miloslav Ludvík, had not advanced. In Pavel's district there is no Senate vote this year.[4]
Reactions of politicians from the coalition and the opposition
In the Sunday Debate of Czech Television and in the programme Partie Terezie Tománkové on CNN Prima News on 4 October 2026, political representatives from both the coalition and the opposition commented on President Petr Pavel's planned absence. They agreed that constitutional officials should set an example at elections. According to ČTK, the presidential office said that the president regrets the planning error.[4]
The Minister of Labour and Social Affairs Aleš Juchelka (ANO) said that the president may freely decide whether to go on holiday at the time of the elections. The chairman of the People's Party deputies, Marian Jurečka (KDU-ČSL), appealed to the president to come to vote on Friday 9 October and called the absence a mistake.[4][5] The Minister for Sport Boris Šťastný (Motoristé) said that the president decided not to set an example for citizens, and added that in Černouček a vote will be missing against the candidate list on which a Motoristé council candidate stands.[4][3]
The chair of the ANO parliamentary group, Taťána Malá, called the head of state's stance disrespect and said the planning-error explanation could be accepted at most as "youthful recklessness". The former Minister of the Environment Petr Hladík (KDU-ČSL) said he has no understanding for the president's stance. The chair of the STAN group in the Chamber of Deputies, Michaela Šebelová, said the step may come back to haunt the president when he urges people to vote in the future.[4][3]
According to the presidential office, the president left on Friday 2 October 2026 and is to return to his working programme on Monday 19 October with the reception of ambassadors. The racing driver posted on Facebook a photograph with the president from the rally in Morocco. In Pavel's electoral district there is no Senate vote this year.[4][3]
Ministers and deputies also recalled the precedent of 2020. President Miloš Zeman then did not take part in the second round of the Senate elections. He justified his decision by the fact that in his district the candidate he preferred had not advanced.[4][3]
Politicians' reactions
Coalition and opposition politicians in the Sunday Debate of Czech Television and in Partie Terezie Tománkové on CNN Prima News commented on the news that President Petr Pavel will not take part in the elections in Černouček because of a private trip abroad. They called it a mistake and said that political representatives should set an example. According to the presidential office, the president regrets the planning error.[4][3]
The Minister of Labour and Social Affairs Aleš Juchelka (ANO) said that the president may freely decide whether to go on holiday. The chairman of the People's Party deputies, Marian Jurečka, called on the head of state to come to vote on Friday and said: "For such high-ranking politicians it is a mistake." The Minister for Sport Boris Šťastný (Motoristé) said the president will not set an example for citizens and noted that in Černouček one vote will be missing against the candidate list on which a Motoristé candidate appears.[4][3]
The chair of the ANO parliamentary group, Taťána Malá, called the president's stance disrespect, and in her view the planning-error explanation could be taken at most as "youthful recklessness". The former Minister of the Environment Petr Hladík (KDU-ČSL) said he has no understanding for the president's stance, and the chair of the parliamentary group of STAN, Michaela Šebelová, believes it may come back to haunt the president when he urges citizens to take part.[4][3]
The president's trip
According to the presidential office, the president left on 2 October 2026 and is to continue his working programme on 19 October with the reception of ambassadors. The racing driver Martin Prokop wrote on Facebook that Pavel visited a rally in Morocco and posted a joint photograph. According to Deník N, the president went on a motorcycle holiday.[4][3]
In Pavel's district there is no Senate vote this year. According to ČTK and Echo24, the only one so far who, as president, has not taken part in any kind of election is Miloš Zeman, namely the second round of the Senate elections in October 2020, which he justified by the fact that in his district the candidate he preferred had not advanced.[4][3]
Politicians' reactions to Eva Pavlová's statement
On 7 October 2026 the Minister of the Interior Lubomír Metnar (ANO) rejected on the network X the criticism by the first lady Eva Pavlová, who had reproached the state for not allowing people to vote in municipal elections outside their place of residence. Metnar wrote that municipal elections choose council members in a particular municipality, so one cannot vote elsewhere with a voter's pass; in his view that is not a flaw of the system but the essence of municipal elections. He added that if the presidential office wants to open a debate on internet voting, it should say so openly, and that the electoral system of the whole country will not be changed because the president planned a holiday for the election date.[6][7]
Further statements
The deputy and former Minister of Defence Jana Černochová (ODS) said that Pavlová's reproach misses the mark, because the president signed the constitutional change concerning municipal elections without reservations and voting for the candidates of one's municipality from anywhere would require a fundamental change of the system. The chairman of Motoristé and Minister of Foreign Affairs Petr Macinka told ČTK that in his view the first lady should have stayed reserved. The chairman of STAN, Vít Rakušan, called postal voting for presidential, parliamentary and European elections the right step, but said that for municipal elections the change will not work until voting is electronic. The chairman of ODS, Martin Kupka, told ČTK that the nature of elections to local councils and to the Senate does not allow postal voting.[6][7][8]
The chairman of TOP 09, Matěj Ondřej Havel, repeated that it is a pity the president will not take part in the elections, and pointed out that the change of the constitutional act was approved by Parliament in March 2024 and signed by the president. The spokesman of the presidential office, Daniel Drake, told Echo24 that the office does not comment on the first lady's private matters and that it was her civic stance, to which she has a right.[6][7][8]
Sources
- ČTK / České noviny — 2 October 2026
- Echo24 — 3 October 2026
- Echo24 — 4 October 2026
- ČTK / České noviny — 4 October 2026
- Ekonomický deník
- ČTK / České noviny — 7 October 2026
- Echo24 — 7 October 2026
- Deník.cz — 7 October 2026