President Petr Pavel will not vote in the municipal council elections in Černouček in the Litoměřice area 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 mistake.
On 2 October 2026 the communications department of the Office of the President of the Republic announced on its website that President Petr Pavel will not vote in the elections to the municipal council of Černouček in the Litoměřice area because he will be abroad. It added that the president regrets the planning mistake. 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 no Senate vote takes place 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 resume his working programme on Monday 19 October by receiving ambassadors.[1][2]
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 newspaper cites an unnamed senior state source.[1][2]
Election date and context
The president formally set the election date in June 2026. Unlike at previous elections, he had no choice, because under an amendment local and regional elections are always held on Friday and Saturday of the first full week of October.[1][2]
According to the Czech News Agency, the only president so far to have skipped some type of election is Miloš Zeman, who did not take part in the second round of the Senate elections in October 2020; he justified his decision by saying that the candidate he preferred had not advanced in his district.[1] Political scientist Jan Kubáček told the Czech News Agency that he does not regard the president's absence from the 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: Litoměřice, Petr Pavel, Černouček
Chronology
- — 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
Pages that link here
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 Czech Television's Sunday Debate and in the programme 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
Minister of Labour and Social Affairs Aleš Juchelka (ANO) said that the president may decide whether to go on holiday at the time of the elections. According to him, "the president does not want to go to the municipal elections, he swapped it for a holiday, it 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]
Minister for Sport Boris Šťastný (Motoristé) said on CNN Prima News: "The president freely decided that he will not set an example to citizens." He added that in Černouček there will be one vote fewer against the list on which a Motoristé council candidate appears.[3][4]
Statements by parliamentary groups
The chairman of the Christian Democratic deputies, Marian Jurečka, called on the president to come to vote on Friday 9 October. In his view it is a mistake for such high-ranking politicians.[4] 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 mistake could only be taken as "youthful recklessness". The chair of the STAN group, Michaela Šebelová, said the president's move could turn against him if he urges citizens to vote in the future, and stressed that municipal elections are important too.[3][4]
Sources
- ČTK / České noviny — 2 October 2026
- Echo24 — 3 October 2026
- Echo24 — 4 October 2026
- ČTK / České noviny — 4 October 2026