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Our core strategic tenets:

• We want pension reform.

We want to engage in specific action without lengthy and futile debate. It is a matter of uncoupling the pensions account from the central government budget and establishing clear financial relations both between them and with any other sources of income for that account. The public will know where its social security contributions are going and what they are being used for.

By the end of 2018, the Government will introduce discounted train and bus fares for seniors over the age of 65, school pupils, and students up to the age of 26.

We will push for the faster construction of affordable housing for seniors and young families, with a particular focus on compact community-type rental units, further to an analysis of requirements in this area conducted in collaboration with regions, towns and municipalities.

• Digital Czech Republic.

We want high-speed internet to be available everywhere. We want to employ uniform standards and to use shared services wherever possible. We must deploy uniform services at central government level. We will devise a centralised government portal where citizens can sort out all of their needs, and we will draw on Czech Post’s services for those who do not have internet. Computerisation must be in place wherever possible – tax returns, electronic receipts, electronic motorway vignettes, etc.

• We want to be seen in Europe.

We must be more assertive in defending our interests in a unifying Europe. This is not just about immigrant quotas, which we reject – and we would like to convince our partners of this. We would also like greater support to combat tax havens and tax evasion. In addition, we want backing for our plans to develop nuclear energy. In relation to Brussels, it is our intention not to be yes-men, but to act as policy influencers. While the Government currently sees no way of joining the euro area, it will continue to respect the commitments that have been made.

• We will prepare a strategic investment programme.

First and foremost, we will put forward a new line construction law that encourages building and does not allow obstructions to get in the way. This is a be-all and end-all policy for us.

We plan to build motorways and bypasses. To start preparing a route for high-speed rail and the renovation of stations. Elsewhere, stations are examples of modern infrastructure serving entire cities with commerce and amenities, yet in the Czech Republic it is sad that these tend to be filthy buildings blotting the urban landscape.

We need to lay the groundwork for the construction of new units at nuclear power stations. We will limit investment incentives solely to projects that add a lot of value.

We need to rally behind productive investments for technologically backward SMEs.
Local government, working in tandem with our central Government, must build housing for young families and seniors alike.

It is imperative that we start renovating monuments in all regions in order to attract tourists away from the beaten track.

We will look for ways, across the various ministries, to lessen the plight faced by economically challenged regions.

• We want to start reforming the state.

This means having a balanced central government budget and passing a new Income Tax Act. Rigorous regulated price controls, especially for water and sewerage rates. Improvements in the management of state assets. Fighting usury.

We need to straighten out the relationship between self-governing bodies and the central government budget.

We will work with the Union of Towns and Municipalities to negotiate the level of contributions to state administration.

We need to reform social care and regulate the job market, encompassing new sources of labour and greater incentives to work.

We need to set rules on the financing of education, finally start boosting technical education and apprenticeships, and restore order to the system of higher education.

We need clear rules on the financing of the health sector and the development of its capacities.

We will revamp sport both for top-level athletes and for the masses. We will not allow public services or enterprises in which the state has a participating interest to be privatised.

• We will reinforce our security.

Increased defence spending will go hand-in-hand with the greater involvement of Czech companies (suppliers of arms, ammunition, etc.).

Internal security will be based on foreseeing crisis situations and addressing them assiduously via the police force and both professional and voluntary fire brigades.

We will prioritise energy security and self-sufficiency in the generation of electricity.

We will scale up the country’s food self-sufficiency.

We will protect the soil – as a source of natural capital – against land-grabbing and erosion.

We need to retain as much water as possible in the landscape.

We will protect and process indigenous raw materials in a way that delivers the utmost effect for the state.

>> Read full policy statement.