Czech Television announced on 6 October 2026 that the leaders of five parties who are standing in municipal or Senate elections will not appear in the final pre-election Superdebata.
Czech Television (ČT) announced on 6 October 2026 that it would not let the leaders of the opposition parties ODS, the Czech Pirate Party, KDU-ČSL and TOP 09, or of the coalition party Motoristé sobě, appear in the final pre-election Superdebata. In its view the reason is that they are standing in municipal or Senate elections, and ČT's rules for pre-election broadcasting do not allow candidates in those elections to appear. ČT spokesperson Michal Pleskot told the Czech News Agency about it. The final Superdebata is to take place on Thursday 8 October 2026; ČT had not yet announced the names of the participants.[1][2]
The leaders' letter and the reply
The broadcaster was responding to a letter in which four party leaders called on it to let them take part. The head of the news division, Petr Mrzena, replied to them. According to him, after consideration the newsroom concluded that the long-standing pre-election rules are set correctly, because they oblige the broadcaster to be balanced and impartial.[1][2] The leader of Motoristé sobě, Petr Macinka, did not join the appeal.[1]
The leaders' candidacies
ODS leader Martin Kupka is standing for the council in Líbeznice, KDU-ČSL leader Jan Grolich for the Senate in the Vyškov area, Pirate leader Zdeněk Hřib for the Prague city council, and TOP 09 leader Matěj Ondřej Havel in Hradec Králové. Macinka is also standing for the Prague council.[1][2]
Statement by Czech Television
Pleskot said that politicians standing in these elections may not appear in pre-election programmes unless their rivals are represented as well, and that the rules had been published well in advance. According to him, the Superdebata is not meant to present individual candidates but to inform viewers about the ideas of the strongest political groupings on the theme of the elections, and representatives of parties that are not standing themselves are therefore welcome. He added that other members of the leadership can also represent the parties' positions.[1][2]
Related articles: Czech Pirate Party, Czech Television, KDU-ČSL, Municipal and Senate elections 2026, ODS, Petr Macinka, Superdebata, TOP 09
Chronology
- — Ahead of the municipal and Senate elections, Czech Television is maintaining rules under which the leaders of five parties who are standing as candidates cannot take part in its pre-election broadcast, although four of them asked it in a letter to allow their participation; in response, Motorists leader Petr Macinka announced that he rejects the broadcaster's requests for experts of the foreign ministry to appear. iDNES.cz ČT24: regiony
- — Czech Television announced that the chairs of ODS, the Pirates, KDU-ČSL, TOP 09 and Motoristé will not appear in the final pre-election Superdebate, because they are standing in the municipal or Senate elections, in which the broadcaster's rules do not allow such appearances. ČTK / České noviny FORUM 24
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- Czech Television
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Czech Television sticks to its rules and broadcasts the Superdebata
According to iDNES.cz, Czech Television on 8 October 2026 stood by its decision that the leaders of five parties who are standing in the elections cannot take part in the pre-election broadcast: Martin Kupka (ODS), Zdeněk Hřib (Pirates), Jan Grolich (KDU-ČSL), Matěj Ondřej Havel (TOP 09) and Petr Macinka (Motoristé sobě). The leaders of four of them, ODS, the Pirates, KDU-ČSL and TOP 09, had asked the broadcaster by letter to let them take part.[3]
According to the report, the rules prohibit politicians who are standing in the elections from appearing in pre-election programmes unless their electoral rivals are represented. The broadcaster said it had published the conditions well in advance. The parties therefore sent other representatives.[3]
Foreign minister and deputy prime minister Petr Macinka responded by announcing that he rejects all of the broadcaster's requests for appearances by experts from the foreign ministry.[3]
The broadcast
Czech Television aired the Superdebata of leaders and representatives of political groupings, on relations between municipal, city and national politics, on Thursday 8 October 2026 from 20:07; it was moderated by Marcela Augustová. The invitation was accepted by Igor Červený (Motoristé sobě), Benjamin Činčila (KDU-ČSL), Karel Havlíček (ANO), Jiří Havránek (ODS), Tomio Okamura (SPD), Jiří Pospíšil (TOP 09), Vít Rakušan (STAN) and Kateřina Stojanová (Pirates).[4]
Sources
- ČTK / České noviny — 6 October 2026
- FORUM 24 — 6 October 2026
- iDNES.cz — 8 October 2026
- ČT24: regiony — 8 October 2026