Czech Democracy in the New Millennium by Andrew L. Roberts

Author:Andrew L. Roberts [Roberts, Andrew L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Public Policy, City Planning & Urban Development, Democracy, Political Ideologies, Political Science, World, Asian, General
ISBN: 9781000051940
Google: CO_eDwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2020-04-27T07:59:50+00:00

The first set of questions concerns conflicts of interest. Here we find that 45% of MPs were running a business or other freelance enterprise and 29% were partners or members of a business enterprise. (By the time that Babiš submitted his disclosure, he had divested from his business and answered that he was not a businessman.) Most surprisingly, half of the MPs answered that they were on a supervisory or auditory board of a business enterprise. Altogether 72% of MPs were involved in business in at least one of these ways.

More telling may be the indicators of their wealth: 81% of MPs owned property or a fixed asset. Indeed, the median legislator held three different fixed assets. The main types were a house/building (61% of MPs owned at least one), a condominium (37%), or a plot of land (56%). Stocks and bonds were held by only 23% of MPs and an ownership stake in a firm not represented by stocks or bonds by only 14%. Unfortunately, the value of these assets is not listed.

Numbers are provided for non-fixed assets where politicians were required to report assets whose value exceeded 500,000 CZK (approximately US$20,000), not including stock, bond, and corporate holdings. About half (87 of 199 MPs) reported such holdings. Among those the average total for all reported assets was 7.5 million CZK (just short of US$400,000) and the median was 1.7 million CZK (about US$80,000). These assets were most frequently held in bank accounts though cars were also often listed. (Among the unusual assets listed were cryptocurrencies, held by two Pirate MPs, investment gold, expensive watches, and stamp or picture collections.) These numbers were highly skewed with Babiš reporting 300 million CZK (~15 million US$) worth of non-fixed assets which is ten times the next largest reported by the aristocrat Karel Schwarzenberg. Finally, a little less than half of the MPs reported outstanding liabilities, most frequently mortgages or consumer loans, with an average among those reporting of just shy of two million CZK (about US$80,000).

How much do these numbers differ by party? Despite being personally recruited by their billionaire-leader, the members of ANO do not look so different from the average MP though they were more likely to report non-fixed assets. Befitting their outsider status and youth, the Pirates were less likely than others to be involved in business or own assets. The Communists were similar to them in most of these respects. Members of the four parties that represented business interests and more free-market policies (ANO, ODS, TOP, and STAN) tended to hold more assets than the others, particularly as the median member did report some non-fixed assets. In short, differences in wealth do seem to track with ideology.

While these disclosure requirements make it difficult to estimate the net worth of MPs, there are strong indicators that they are well off financially. Almost three-quarters have some involvement with business and 80% own some property with 65% owning more than one (one MP listed 67 separate properties). Reporting of non-fixed

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