According to an earlier statement by the prime minister, Pavel could meet both candidates on Monday afternoon and appoint the new ministers on Tuesday morning, as the Presidential Office announced.

MP Vlcek is expected to replace Jozef Sikela (STAN), who is leaving to take over the international partnerships portfolio at the European Commission.

The post of minister for regional development became vacant after the dismissal of Ivan Bartos (Pirates), who left the post on 30 September having been dismissed by Prime Minister Petr Fiala (ODS), citing problems with the digitisation of construction procedures. The Pirates quit the government in response to Bartos’s dismissal, which they stated was a breach of the coalition agreement. The Ministry of Regional Development then fell to the STAN, has nominated the outgoing governor of Karlovy Vary, Petr Kulhanek, to head the ministry.

STAN leader Vit Rakusan said in a press release that the movement has been trying to calm the current government rift from the beginning. “One of the ways to calm the situation is to replace the Pirate ministers so that the individual ministries, and therefore the government as a whole, can continue this work,” he said. He said that Kulhanek was the right choice because he is an experienced crisis manager with knowledge of the ministerial agenda and the needs of the regions.

Source: CTK

Prepared by the team of foreign offices CzechTrade Osaka and Tokyo