“I want to fall asleep in peace and wake up without fear, raise my children in a way that to me is dear,” is a part of the lyrics to the song Až se k nám právo vrátí (When justice returns to us) by Spirituál Kvintet that is often quoted by Marek Benda, chairman of the ODS parliamentary club and vice-chair of the Committee on Constitutional and Legal Affairs. I was pleasantly surprised during our interview to see him be self-critical and poke fun at himself.
You are the longest-standing MP in the history of the Czech Republic, to the point of sometimes being called a political dinosaur. Is politics a grateful business? Which of your qualities has helped you keep your seat in the Parliament for so many years?
Politics is an ungrateful business. And as for the quality? Being trustworthy is paramount. People can have a hard time understanding me, some of my friends even disagree with me on many different issues, but they are well aware that I stand behind everything I say. I know I am not exactly the crowd favorite, which is why I decided not to run for the Senate despite people encouraging me to do so. I am afraid that I would crash and burn when it comes to popular vote.
You were born a Scorpio. Does that sign fit your personality?
My uncle, microbiologist and philosopher, Zdeněk Neubauer, who was also into the occult, would always say, “Marek, when a group of people comes to a blooming meadow, some of them will admire the sun, others the flowers… the Scorpio will be the one turning over rocks and looking for all sorts of bugs.” That is something I have been very aware of my whole life. I very much examine everything deeply, often finding things others might miss.
Let us examine the world a little deeper, then. How is it doing?
I feel that the Western world that we have always looked up to has returned to the times of the “lynch mob”, when the Wild West was on the rise and there were no rules around. It roots itself in all sorts of myths, and cares about absolutely silly things, such as when J.K. Rowling was condemned for criticizing the idea that the word “women” should be replaced with a gender-neutral “people who menstruate.” Just recently, I heard a young lady say, “When a person is pregnant...” on TV. This wave of the sexual revolution has turned into sexual nonsense. Soon we will be drafting up contracts prior to lovemaking. I recommend reading Douglas Murray’s “Madness of Crowds”, it describes this phenomenon very well.
And how are we doing on the homefront, here in Czechia?
The issues in Czechia stem from the rule of Andrej Babiš, especially as it relates to the pandemic crisis. The people’s trust in the government has been shaken. People have learned to ignore government regulations or just follow them halfway: partly because they seemed nonsensical, partly because people no longer understood what they could, could not, or were supposed to do. Democracy is a rather fragile system, based on a sort of “quiet understanding”. You cannot rule with force under democracy. Renewing the people’s faith in the government will be very much up to the current one now.
Social media also plays a big role nowadays…
Yes, that is because there are small social bubbles following a single idea, where people mutually reinforce their beliefs. Those are often absolute nonsense. Of course, “talking” on social media is an entirely different thing than talking in person. That is what I grew up with, which is why Facebook to me is just a notice board, and I strictly avoid reading any comments.
You have been with the ODS for quite some time, seeing it in its heyday as well as in the gutter. What things have gone well during this period?
Starting with the times of Václav Klaus, the ODS had been the driving force behind all kinds of reform that were actually implemented following the fall of the Communist regime. It is thanks to the ODS that we are such a stable country where no extremist party has ever been able to succeed. Another very important matter was the privatization and the entire restitution process, which my dad played a part in. That is when the middle class was born in Czechia. I am also grateful for the Czech constitution, and I am proud to have had an important role in its inception. Thanks to the constitution, we are a stable country where rule does not change hands in a day, protecting the country from being bounced around the political spectrum. There is, of course, a number of things that have not gone all that well.
Which ones are those?
Things are needlessly complicated, new administrative structures such as regions are being created. I am not sure to this day whether things were done correctly. We have come to a state of affairs where the best solution to a problem is to pass it down the line to somebody else. A politician cannot just follow what the people want of them. Of course, they should listen to the people, but they are responsible for what happens afterwards, not the voters. And sadly, we are ruled by the media around here.
The year 2021 ended with a victory of the SPOLU Coalition. I hear that you made a few bets against Andrej Babiš and the ANO winning the elections.
2021 was a miracle year! Also because, in spite of all the “Hřibs” around, meaning the Mayor of Prague and other such characters, the Marian Column in Old Town Square was erected. It is also true that not many people believed in SPOLU in the beginning, the STAN and Pirate coalition was polling much higher. I had a gut feeling, however, that we could do it and I really did make a few bets that the ANO would not win. And now I am collecting my winnings throughout pubs all around Prague… [laughs]
We now have a new prime minister. How do you see Petr Fiala?
Some people see him as a weak politician, but I do not think that is the case. I like him, I had a hunch he would become the ODS chairman and it worked. True, he does not have strong Topolánek-like slogans, but he does have a clear vision and direction. He managed to put together a government, push through all the ministers with the President, and he does what is needed without having to be loud about it. I feel that just such a prime minister is beneficial right now. We need to calm things down as much as possible and refrain from coming out with new legislation every month so that the people can make sense of all this. They have been through enough stress due to covid already.
What do you think is the state’s main responsibility?
It used to be maintaining interior and exterior safety and international relations. States grow over time, they build and invest more, more and more aspects of life are regulated and directed by the state. Nowadays, as part of the European Green Deal, we busy ourselves with saving the entire planet at the cost of making our society less prosperous. Of course, the extent of the state’s responsibilities is being debated every day. But I represent a conservative standpoint – the state should first and foremost make sure that every citizen has the right to find their own happiness or salvation as they best see fit. The state is not supposed to force its ideas of how life should be lived on the people.
You have run in several elections now with the premise that family is the fundamental unit of society and the government should interfere in it as little as possible. How do you plan to help families?
I will advocate for people’s right to transfer a percentage of their pension savings to their parents. People who have raised their children properly, investing considerable time, energy, and resources, have a right to be supported by their children as they age. I will oppose any more government impositions on how children should be raised. I do not want there to be any mandated healthy food, lifestyle, mandatory sex education in schools, and other such fabrications. Parents are capable of making these decisions on their own. I am in favor of people having the right to freely choose their children’s education, including homeschooling.
What does the term freedom mean to you?
Freedom to me, as a believer, is the highest of aspirations. One decides on their own whether to be good or evil. That is not to say that I always make the right decisions and that I am free of mistakes, but before God, it is me, and only me, who is responsible for my life and my choices. Freedom has a way of feeling worthless to people as long as they possess it. We tend to exchange it for increased safety, care, prosperity, order, or even punishing those we wish to be punished. Freedom was the thing that our forebears fought for on the battlefields of Europe, Asia, Africa, or even as part of the resistance during the Nazi and Communist regimes. Our people most often chose freedom, all the while knowing that it goes hand in hand with responsibility.
Nevertheless, it looks like freedom and Christianity are being diluted in western Europe, as opposed to a certain other religion that has been spreading throughout the continent…
We do not study our history enough, and it speaks clearly. Whenever we allow a space to open, something new will appear to fill it up. We have to keep in mind that there may come civilizations that will hold to their faith more firmly and will be a danger to us. I believe that the Holy Spirit will go where it wishes and there is not much we can do to change its course.
A panel teaching students about the importance of November 17 for today's world at UCC Pankrác.
CV
Marek Benda (born November 10, 1968, in Prague) is an MP and chairman of the ODS parliamentary club, he represents the more Christian- and conservative-leaning part of the ODS.
He graduated from a secondary technical school in Prague and from the Faculty of Law at the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen.
Benda got into politics as early as March 1989, as part of the forming Stuha collective of independent students that organized the November 17 protest march in Albertov. During the revolution, he was elected a member of the Central Student Strike Coordination Committee. In 1990, he was co-opted into the Czech National Council as a member of the same party. He has held his seat in Parliament to this day, barring a 2-year hiatus.
#In 1990, Benda co-founded the Christian Democratic Party (KDS), which was chaired by his father, Václav Benda. After the KDS and ODS merger in 1996, he became a member of the ODS.
He lives in Prague with his wife Marie, they have four children – Johana, Jonáš, Apolena, and Amálka.
"Likely the tiniest pike in my life but I caught it fly fishing, which is a bit more difficult," says Marek Benda.
The fisherman
“When I want to relax, I run for the wilderness in the most remote parts of the country. For the woods, the rivers, the small pools and ponds. I love going for walks and picking mushrooms, but I relax the most when I am fishing,” says Marek Benda, adding that time is scarce, but he needs to find some for himself unless he wants to go out of his mind. Despite all that, he usually hands in his fishing permit early each year with only ten to fifteen visits marked. And how did he get into it? “Barring childhood poaching, I got into sport fishing thanks to the grandpa of one of my sisters-in-law. There is something atavistic about fishing, the ancient battle with nature where the fish is unpredictable and it is only up to your ability and patience whether you catch it or not. I do not much care for trophy catches to be photographed, but rather for finding an unknown body of water and trying to ‘read’ it and catching a fish there,” says Benda. He enjoys fish on a plate, too.
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