Stanislav Tišer (SRP), Romani candidate to Czech lower house: I want a change of government

An unusually high number of Romani people are running in this year’s early elections compared to years past. The monthly Romano voďi, published by the ROMEA association, has done its best to interview all the candidates running for the lower house and will run those interviews in addition to publishing analytical material about the elections.

News server Romea.cz will be gradually publishing these interviews. We consider these elections to be important, key, and we hope to bring you the opinions of all those asking for your vote.

This interview introduces Stanislav Tišer, a boxing trainer who previously represented Czechoslovakia in the sport and is now running for the Equal Opportunities Party (Strana rovných příležitostí – SRP). Tišer is running on the Green Party candidate list in 15th place in Prague.

Q:  Previously you were contacted by the European Democrats to run in the municipal elections and you did so. Why? What was that experience like? Why now are you running for the SRP?

A:  I am running for the SRP, a Romani party that has made an agreement with the Greens. I am running because I want a change in the government that has been in charge here for the past 23 years and that has fulfilled nothing of what it promised. The government has attempted to address Romani issues for several years, but to this day it has accomplished nothing. Our Romani people are poorer and poorer. They are living in ghettos and have no job opportunities.  

Q:  What do you say to the "alliance" between the Greens and the SRP making it possible for SRP members or nominees to run on the Green Party’s candidate lists?

A:  The SRP has joined forces with the Greens because their programs are aligned.

Q:  What chance, in your opinion, does the SRP have in the early elections in general and in your region in particular?

A: Unless the same old people in different guises are elected, we have a real chance of getting into parliament. Romani people must mainly realize that if they don’t go to the polls, and if they don’t vote for our party, they will have no one in government to do anything truly good for them.

Q:  This year rather a lot of Romani people are running for various parties. What do you make of this?  If elected, should the Romani candidates collaborate across party lines?

A:  After the elections we will see which parties were given the people’s trust, and we will contact those parties and collaborate with them, even if we don’t get into parliament this time.

Q:  What does Romanipen mean to you?

A:  Romanipen means I am a Romani man. I tell everyone this wherever I go, I’m proud of it.

Q:  What do politics and your participation in them symbolize for you?

A:  The opportunity for change, the opportunity to decide our fate.

These interviews will be published in the print edition of Romano voďi magazine, the October edition of which will feature edited versions of all of these interviews (in Czech only). You can order a copy of the October edition at romea@romea.cz.