Prime Minister Petr Fiala (ODS) today sent a proposal to President Petr Pavel to appoint Lukas Vlcek (STAN) as industry and trade minister and Petr Kulhanek (STAN) as regional development minister, government spokeswoman Lucie Jesatkova told CTK.
According to an earlier statement by the prime minister, Pavel could meet both candidates on Monday afternoon and appoint the new ministers on Tuesday morning, as the Presidential Office announced.
MP Vlcek is expected to replace Jozef Sikela (STAN), who is leaving to take over the international partnerships portfolio at the European Commission.
The STAN leadership has nominated the outgoing governor of Karlovy Vary, Petr Kulhanek, to head the regional development ministry. The decision was made at yesterday’s meeting in the lower house, STAN spokeswoman Sara Berankova told CTK.
The post of minister for regional development became vacant after the dismissal of Ivan Bartos (Pirates), who left the post on 30 September having been dismissed by Prime Minister Petr Fiala (ODS), citing problems with the digitisation of construction procedures. The Pirates quit the government in response to Bartos’s dismissal, which they stated was a breach of the coalition agreement. The Ministry of Regional Development then fell to the Mayors.
STAN leader Vit Rakusan said in a press release that the movement has been trying to calm the current government rift from the beginning. “One of the ways to calm the situation is to replace the Pirate ministers so that the individual ministries, and therefore the government as a whole, can continue this work,” he said. He said that Kulhanek was the right choice because he is an experienced crisis manager with knowledge of the ministerial agenda and the needs of the regions.
53-year-old Kulhanek is a graduate of the University of Economics and was mayor of Karlovy Vary from 2010 to 2018. He has been the governor of the Karlovy Vary Region since the end of 2020. However, he will not continue in the post, as the ANO movement won the recent elections in the region with 28 seats out of 45, allowing them to form a single-party regional government.
The Presidential Office said in a press release that Pavel had already received the proposals for the appointment of the two ministers. “He will meet the proposed candidates on Monday, Lukas Vlcek at 4:30pm and Petr Kulhanek at 5:30pm,” the office added.
Pavel also accepted the resignation of Minister for Legislation Michal Salomoun (for Pirates), who was quitting as a result of the Pirates’ departure to the opposition benches. The government will not fill his post, and the agenda will be transferred to the justice minister.
Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky also resigned this week, also leaving the Pirate Party over differences in opinion. After talks with PM Fiala, however, he withdrew his resignation and will continue in the government as an unaffiliated minister.
