President Petr Pavel will receive three more ministerial candidates from the emerging government of ANO, Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) and the Motorists on Thursday morning, according to the Presidential Office (KPR).
He will meet the SPD nominees for defence minister (Jaromir Zuna) and agriculture minister (Martin Sebestyan). At 12pm, Motorists chairman Petr Macinka, nominated for the post of foreign minister, will arrive at Prague Castle to meet Pavel.
Under the new coalition, the government is to have 16 members. Nine seats, including the prime minister, are to go to ANO, three to SPD, and four to the Motorists
Pavel began consultations with the proposed cabinet ministers on Friday. So far, he has received all eight candidates of the ANO movement and also the first SPD nominee, Ivan Bednarik, who is to head the Transport Ministry.
Macinka’s meeting with Pavel will cover not only his priorities if he were to become foreign minister, but according to earlier statements, he also wants to clarify the situation surrounding the Motorists’ candidate for environment minister, Filip Turek, whom the party originally intended to nominate as head of diplomacy.
Pavel has highlighted problems with the nomination of Turek, the Motorists’ honorary president. Babis said last week that Pavel was reluctant to nominate Turek as a minister “for legal reasons”, but KPR did not elaborate. On Monday, the president said that unless Turek explains everything that is going on around him, he is not a suitable person for the post of minister. He declined to specify whether or not he would eventually appoint Turek. The Motorists insist that Turek is legally above reproach and remains the party’s nominee to the government.
Yesterday, Pavel met ANO candidates Lubomir Metnar (Ministry of the Interior) and Zuzana Schwarz Bartipanova (Regional Development). With Metnar, he discussed the situation in the security forces and finding a remuneration system that would not upset the balance in the individual forces or endanger the budget.
Pavel debated with Schwarz Bartipanova about amendments to construction law and the digitalization of construction procedures. They also discussed the problems of structurally affected regions and economically and socially vulnerable areas.
Bednarik, the SPD candidate for transport minister, presented the president with his vision for the development of transport infrastructure. In particular, they addressed financing and the possibility of involving other sources of money, and also touched on the planned construction of high-speed railway lines. According to KPR, Pavel and Bednarik agreed that there must be a proper analysis of the cost and sources of financing and a calculated return for their construction.
