Not only does Czech presidential candidate Petr Pavel not want to revive the draft and mobilize, no president could unilaterally do so
Disinformation in Czech society has gone viral alleging that if presidential candidate Petr Pavel were to be elected next weekend, he would order the mobilization for military service of all men between the ages of 18 and 60, and Romani people are among those falling for this untrue claim. The falsely alleged purpose of this mobilization would be to go fight in Ukraine.
A milder version of this disinformation is spreading the lie that Pavel wants to reintroduce compulsory military service. These allegations are all nonsense, as Czech law does not make any such thing possible, and Pavel has refuted these untrue claims.
“If Pavel wins, there will be war. I don’t want my children and grandchildren to go to war,” reads one such post on Facebook.
“If that Pavel wins, there will be mobilization. We don’t want to go to war,” another person alleged in a live broadcast on that same platform.
The President of the Czech Republic cannot unilaterally mobilize anybody
Naturally, these allegations are absurd. No president is able to unilaterally do any such thing.
The announcement of a mobilization is possible only in the case of what is called a state of war. The president does not unilaterally announce a state of war – just like states of danger or emergency, the Parliament of the Czech Republic is the body empowered to make that determination.
An absolute majority of most members of both houses of the legislature would have to vote to declare a state of war. Even if they were to do so, the president would be unable to unilaterally mobilize anybody.
The president is only able to announce a mobilization if the Government proposes that he do so. According to the Act on Defense, “The President of the Republic orders the mobilization of the armed forces at the suggestion of the Government. The President of the Republic announces the mobilization through the mass media.”
Moreover, Pavel has never said he wants to announce a mobilization. On the contrary, through his spokesperson, he refuted that claim ahead of the first round of voting for the next president.
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“The allegation about mobilization is disinformation, of course. Petr Pavel is not planning any mobilization. Even factually this is utter nonsense, no president has the authority to declare mobilization,” Pavel’s spokesperson Markéta Řeháková responded to news server iRozhlas.cz.
Petr Pavel: I’ve experienced war, maintaining peace means more to me than it does to many politicians
On Tuesday, 17 January, Pavel said that scaring people with the threat of war, or of becoming drawn into a war, or of the possibility of mobilization is the coarsest kind of cowardice and meanness. “It’s an abuse of fear for political gain,” he said.
In Pavel’s view, it makes sense to conserve the peace and to endeavor to maintain it. He added that as a soldier he would never push anybody into armed conflict.
“Armies fulfill political tasks, the politicians start the wars,” Pavel said. He also explained that conserving the peace means more to him than it does to many other politicians because he has experienced war and seen its effect on civilian populations and soldiers.
“I’m the last person who would want to draw the country into war,” Pavel said. He added that all of the work he did in NATO was about peacekeeping, showing the alliance’s strength and deterring possible aggressors from attacking the member countries.
Pavel also rejects the allegation that he would want to introduce compulsory military service. “General Pavel does not want to renew military service. On the contrary, he has always been against such proposals and has always emphasized that the Czech Republic needs a professional army comprised of people who have voluntarily chosen the profession of soldier,” reads an infographic refuting the disinformation that is going viral.
On top of that, the Czech Police have begun to investigate fake text messages in which an author who pretends to speak for Pavel calls on those contacted to report to a branch of the Army to be armed for mobilization in Ukraine. In response to those text messages, Pavel said he wasn’t surprised somebody is anonymously sending by text message the same alarming, deceitful message that his opponent, Andrej Babiš, has put on his billboards.
“That’s the world of Andrej Babiš, all the conspiracy theory and pro-Russian forces have fallen in line behind him,” Pavel told the Czech News Agency (ČTK). Voting in the second round of the presidential election will take place on Friday, 27 January 2023 from 14:00 to 22:00 and on Saturday, 28 January 2023 from 08:00 to 14:00.
