Kuchtova says her deputy should succeed her in office

Former education minister Dana Kuchtova has criticized the fact that the candidate whose name she put forward as her successor in office had been peremptorily rejected by Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek. The prime minister said on Wednesday he would not accept Dusan Luzny as a possible candidate because he was co-responsible for the managerial mistakes made by the former minister Kuchtova. Dusan Luzny is a member of the Green Party and its leadership approved his candidacy at a party conference last weekend. Observers say that a new minister must be chosen without delay if the ministry is to have any chance of salvaging its share of EU finds.