Parliament will traditionally be open to the public on the national holiday of October 28

Prague - The seats of the Czech Parliament will traditionally be open to the public on the state holiday of October 28. In the Chamber of Deputies, interested visitors will be able to view, for example, the representative halls and meeting rooms. In the Senate, visitors will be welcomed by its acting leader, Vice-President of the upper chamber Jitka Seitlová, who announced today that she will not attend the ceremony for the awarding of state honors by President Miloš Zeman on the same day at Prague Castle. She justified this by stating that other constitutional officials, including the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Markéta Pekarová Adamová, were not invited.

"The state holiday of October 28 and the awarding of the highest state honors are among the most significant symbols of our statehood and country for me. It saddens me that the president could not overcome personal and political animosities even at the end of his term in office and, in the spirit of a higher principle and respect, invite some of the highest constitutional officials to the ceremonial event. In light of these facts, I therefore find no justification for my participation and representation of the Senate at the ceremony at Prague Castle,” said Seitlová today.

Seitlová, as the only member of the upper chamber leadership, did not have to defend her senatorial mandate. From mid-October until the expected re-election of Miloš Vystrčil (ODS) as President of the Senate at the beginning of November, she will represent him.

On Friday, the Vice-President of the Senate will welcome the first visitors who will take advantage of the opportunity to view the otherwise inaccessible historic spaces of the Valdštejn and Kolovrat Palace. On the Day of the Establishment of the Independent Czechoslovak State, people will be able to view in the first of the palaces the Main Hall, the Knights' Hall, and the Audience Hall, or the Mythological Corridor. They will peek into the Meeting Hall, where senators convene during sessions, and newly also into Seitlová's office.

In the Mythological Corridor, people will be able to view an exhibition of photographs titled "Millennial Water in the Senate," in the Corridor of Vice-Presidents an exhibition about Czechoslovak legionnaires, and in the waiting area of the Meeting Hall an exhibition of paintings by Jitka Štenclová. Visitors will also have one of the last opportunities to visit the Valdštejn Garden, which will be put to winter sleep from November 1, said the Senate press secretary Lada Faldýnová. Photography is permitted throughout the premises, and interested parties can share their photos from the Senate on social networks under the hashtag #ceskysenat, the secretary added.

In the Chamber of Deputies, visitors will be able to view representative halls, meeting rooms, or the offices of some parliamentary committees. Groups of visitors will be accompanied by guides from the Prague Information Service, who will introduce guests during the approximately hour-long tour to the history of the buildings, architectural highlights, and their current use. The palaces of the Chamber and the Senate will be accessible from 09:00 to 16:00.