The Supreme Administrative Court (NSS) rejected the pirates' complaint seeking full permanent participation in the operation, despite contesting the last parliamentary election in alliance with the STAN movement. The Ministry of Finance (MoF) decided to pay the contribution to the coalition, which then splits as per the bilateral agreement. According to the interpretation of the law proposed by the pirates, the two companies would receive the full contribution, i.e. ten million crowns per year, which the courts did not accept. NSS result will be available in official board provisionally.
According to that ruling, only the coalition as a whole is entitled to permanent contribution, since it is the coalition that submits the list of candidates, and valid election results are decided only against the coalition. “You can find out only with the alliance what amount he is entitled to this allowance. “Individual political parties and movements are eligible for this contribution, but the electoral gain of the alliance and the share of its proportional part members is determined by agreement or law,” the NSS decision said.
The same conclusion was reached by the Ministry of Finance and the Municipal Court of the City of Prague, which pointed out that it was the political party's choice to run for the House of Representatives independently or together with another entity. “Every political party or political movement must consider all the consequences this fact has on it,” the city court said last year.
Pirates vice-president Hana Hajnova told ČTK that Pirates had approached the court to determine whether the MoF's interpretation actually corresponded to the exact wording of the law. “While the NSS found that the Pirate Party was right, the contribution was given to an individual party or movement 'according to the literal linguistic interpretation of the law', but with its 'theological interpretation' it still came to a negative conclusion.” she said. As NSS explains its meaning and purpose, NSS arguments aim to maintain a balanced system of funding political parties and coalitions in a democratic system. “As a result, the decisions of the courts view the electoral alliance as an independent political party, which in fact is operating independently and managing political entities that are only affiliated with the election campaign,” Hajnova said. .
According to the law, parties and movements that receive at least three percent of the votes in elections to the House of Representatives are entitled to permanent participation. The contribution increases by 200,000 kroner for each additional tenth of a percent up to a limit of six million kroner and five percent, i.e. up to ten million kroner. Above five per cent, entitlement to additional allowance for orders arises. If parties and movements operate in an alliance, the fixed contribution will be divided according to their agreement, or if they have not concluded an agreement.
The pirates challenged the Finance Ministry's decision from 2021, which awarded them 1.782 million kroner as a permanent contribution in the fourth quarter, with a lawsuit and then a lawsuit complaint. They opined that both the confederates should get the full amount of permanent allowance. The two-member alliance secured 15.62 per cent of the votes, so it is said that the threshold for permanent contribution has been crossed by the two entities without any doubt.
However, the NSS pointed out that the interpretation of pirates could have various side effects, for example, in the form of “grafting” small political entities to larger ones with the aim of increasing the level of permanent contributions. “This leads to the purposeful establishment of 'offshoots' of strong political parties or movements, which then join together in an alliance to secure more permanent contributions,” the NSS said.
The Court is aware that every model of funding political parties has its flaws and is never entirely optimal and fair for all. Even the current one is not optimal. “Considering the meaning and purpose of permanent contribution to balance the 'positions' of parliamentary and non-parliamentary institutions, it would be appropriate if the legislature reflected in a certain way while determining the right to contribution and its amount. The coalition has many members,” the NSS said.
The situation of the Pirates after the 2021 elections was marked by the fact that they won only four parliamentary seats, while their coalition won 33 seats. STAN receives more money from the government for mandates. According to Sarah Berankova, spokeswoman for the STAN movement, according to the 2021 coalition agreement, although the mayors receive more money from the state, the parties of the Birstan coalition share a proportion of the funds from the state contribution to the mandates. 1:2.25 in favor of Pirates. “As a result, the pirate party receives more funding from the state subsidy than the Starostov movement,” Berenkova told ČTK.
