The "Mayors and Independents" (STAN) movement in the Czech Republic has called on the Mayor of Poděbrady, Jaroslav Červinka to withdraw as a candidate in the local elections this September because of racist remarks he recently made. During a local assembly meeting, Červinka indicated his support for the idea that Romani people should be shot dead.
"We have adopted a resolution calling on Mr Červinka to withdraw his candidacy," Marek Michl, chair of the Nymburk district cell of the STAN movement, told news server iDNES.cz. According to a statement yesterday by the national chair of STAN, Vít Rakušan, published by news server Romea.cz, he too will advocate for the mayor of Poděbrady to withdraw his candidacy.
"Our party is based on subsidiarity. I am waiting for the local cell to call on the mayor to withdraw from the candidate list and as chair, in accordance with our procedures and statutes, I will also be advocating for that result," Rakušan posted yesterday in response to an open letter from Jaroslav Miko, founder of the civil society initiative Czechs Are Helping (Češi pomáhají) and a member of the Czechoslovak Romani Union (Československá romská unie).
