Controversial Volný and other MPs quit Okamura party

Three MPs have quit Tomio Okamura’s Freedom and Direct Democracy Party. Lubomír Volný, Marian Bojko and Ivana Nevludová were all elected in the Moravian Silesian Region. Mr. Volný said the move was in protest at the fact that the party had allowed racists and neo-Nazis to enter its ranks. He has rejected a call from Freedom and Direct Democracy to also resign from his seat in the Chamber of Deputies.

Mr. Volný is a controversial figure who in the past called Václav Havel a traitor, criticised the Erasmus scheme for students and offered to “take outside” a dispute with another MP during a lower house session. Soon after he announced that he would challenge Mr. Okamura for the party chairmanships his local branch was dissolved.