Lower house chair Miloslav Vlček forced to step down over affairs

Miloslav Vlček, foto: ČTK

The chairman of the lower house of the Czech Parliament Miloslav Vlček has been forced to step down, after revelations of improper loan arrangements and reports he helped an associate abuse a state grant system. Mr Vlček, who sometimes seemed out of his depth as speaker, has also withdrawn his name as an election candidate for the Social Democrats.

Miloslav Vlček,  photo: CTK
Miloslav Vlček was a stop-gap chairman of the Chamber of Deputies who ended up permanently holding the third most important position in the country under the Czech constitution.

However, in four years he never won much respect in parliament, with poor handling of a presidential election a particular blot on his copybook. One news site referred to him as the “sad clown” of Czech politics.

Social Democrats leader Jiří Paroubek told reporters on Thursday that Mr Vlček would be quitting as lower house speaker at the end of the month. He has also stood down from the party’s list of candidates for May’s general elections.

Two separate affairs proved the undoing of Miloslav Vlček. One involved former assistant Petr Vrtal. Mr Vlček successfully lobbied for a 25-million-crown state grant for a sports centre Mr Vrtal promised to build. However, he is reported to have put the money into a large hotel. When the story broke the lower house chair came in for ridicule for denying he knew the businessman.

Photo: Barbora Kmentová
The other affair involved a second ex-assistant. The speaker of the Chamber of Deputies borrowed CZK 1.1 million from Zděnek Klapka, but instead of repaying the loan by bank transfer he says he gave it back in a paper bag, which contravenes a law on money-laundering. The two men are now in a legal battle over another CZK 2.5 million, which Mr Klapka says he lent to Mr Vlček and the latter denies.

That dispute could run for some time. For now, Mr Vlček is heading off into the political sunset. Deputy chair Miroslava Němcová will fill his post until the current parliament ends in a little over a month’s time.