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Current AffairsNečas ally appointed Agriculture Minister
The post of agriculture minister was filled this week as abruptly as it was
vacated with Thursday’s appointment of Civic Democrat Petr Bendl. A close
ally of the prime minister, Mr Bendl is an experienced hand in regional and
ministerial leadership, but his ties to agriculture are non-existent. More
Current AffairsCoalition at odds over state secretary for EU affairs
A proposal to establish a state secretary for EU affairs, approved by the
Czech cabinet on Wednesday, has divided the ruling coalition. While the
proposal was pushed through by the Civic Democratic Party and Public
Affairs the third party in government, TOP09, remains strongly opposed to
the move which it claims to be in violation of the coalition agreement. The
party, which holds the foreign ministry, fears the new post will detract
from its powers and has demanded coalition talks on the issue. Petr Drulák,
head of the Prague-based Institute of International Relations, says
enforcing the decision on TOP 09 would not be a good move. More
Current AffairsLatest government crisis leaves commentators baffled
A drawn-out government crisis over the controversial head of human
resources at the Czech Education Ministry has been resolved in a most
surprising way. Ladislav Bátora, the figure at the centre of the dispute,
who came under fire for his past links to the extreme Nationalist Party and
for insulting the foreign minister online, has not been sacked but is to be
relocated to the less visible but technically higher position of
vice-chancellor to the education minister. TOP 09 leader Karel
Schwarzenberg, who was insulted by the civil servant in question has
thanked Education Minister Josef Dobeš for his accommodating approach in
the matter, explained that his party’s firm stand was a matter of
principle in combating extremism and promised that the party’s ministers
would no longer boycott cabinet meetings. After two weeks of muscle-flexing
over the fate of a civil servant the government crisis is ostensibly over
– but it has left many people wondering what exactly the dispute was all
about. Radio Prague asked political analyst Petr Just for his take on one
of the most bizarre crises in Czech politics. More
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