At a meeting yesterday, President Petr Pavel reiterated to ANO leader and likely future prime minister Andrej Babis that he continued to have reservations about Filip Turek of the Motorists as a member of the government, according to the press department of the Presidential Office.
Babis told reporters that the president had a problem with the nomination of Turek to the government for legal reasons.
Turek has faced criticism for racist and homophobic posts on social media. He has apologised and denied authorship of some of them. Police said in October that they had begun investigating Turek’s remarks as possible crimes of defamation of nation and race, incitement to hatred and approval of a crime.
The Motorists have nominated Turek for environment minister, instead of for foreign minister as had been speculated. According to Macinka, it was supposed to be a friendly gesture that would unblock problems in the formation of the government. “I understand that what is being hinted at in the media could be a problem for someone, for example in the field of diplomacy. On the other hand, it may not be so dramatic in the Environment Ministry,” he said, insisting he did not know of any legal reasons that would block Turek from joining the government.
Political scientist Ales Michal of the Faculty of Social Sciences at Charles University said that moving Turek to the environment ministry was a concession from both Babis and the Motorists, which indicated that Babis wished to avoid a dispute with the president over Turek.
“However, it can also be seen as a retreat strategy by Filip Turek – and it is possible that he will not end there, but also withdraw his nomination from any government post,” said Michal.
The president’s informal consultations with the ministerial nominees from ANO, Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) and the Motorists will begin on Friday and could last until 10 December, according to the Presidential Office.
Political scientist Milan Skolnik, of the Faculty of Economics and Business at the Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague, said that if the Motorists or the president do not back down over Turek, there is a risk of delaying the appointment of the government.
The statement said Pavel is ready to appoint Babis as prime minister within a week after the publication of his plans to resolve his conflict of interest over the ownership of Agrofert, and then appoint the government as a whole within a few days. “The date of the announcement is entirely in the hands of Andrej Babis,” it added.
According to Babis, the new government could be formed by mid-December, which would correspond to the formation of the last cabinet four years ago.
The ANO government will return Alena Schillerova to the Finance Ministry, Karel Havlicek to Industry, Lubomir Metnar to the Interior Ministry, Robert Plaga to Education and Adam Vojtech to Health. Newcomers include MP Ales Juchelka as labour minister, Zuzana Schwarz Bartipanova as regional development minister, and former Social Democrat Jeronym Tejc as justice minister, Babis announced yesterday.
Alongside Turek and Macinka, the Motorists have proposed Oto Klempir as Minister of Culture, while Boris Stastny is to be in charge of sport.
SPD has proposed former deputy chief of the general staff Jaromir Zuna as defence minister, former head of the State Agricultural Intervention Fund Martin Sebestyan as agriculture minister, and former head of Czech Railways Ivan Bednarik as transport minister.
