Czech President Petr Pavel told journalists in the Usti nad Labem region yesterday that, if the statements made on social media by Filip Turek, a newly elected MP for the Motorists, turn out to be authentic, that would disqualify him from any ministerial position.
Turek is being discussed as a possible foreign minister in the emerging government of ANO, Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) and the Motorists. However, Denik N reported that he had posted openly racist, sexist and homophobic statements on Facebook in the past.
During a walk in the Bohemian Switzerland National Park, Pavel welcomed the fact that ANO, SPD and the Motorists have begun discussing programme agreement, or at least a basic overlap in priorities. It did not make much sense to start by dividing the ministries, he said.
Pavel said that he had never hidden his reservations and questions about Filip Turek. “Since we are not discussing names now, I am not going to speculate on whether he should be foreign minister. If the quotes that appear in the media today turn out to be authentic, then in my opinion that would disqualify him from any ministerial position,” he added.
Earlier, Turek had objected to the accusations of racism. The Motorists announced that they have filed criminal charges against Denik N and the authors of the report. The newspaper said it stood by the article and believed the police would investigate all the circumstances of the case.
After the elections, Pavel met the heads of all the parties that made it into the lower house, and had several meetings with the leader of the winning ANO movement, Andrej Babis. Yesterday, the president said he had not firmly planned another meeting with Babis, who is negotiating the formation of the government.
“I’m glad he came to the same conclusion we discussed at our first meeting. This means that probably the first thing a government should base itself on is some kind of programme consensus or at least a basic overlap in priorities. Then there can be a debate on the division of ministries and, finally, names. To start the other way around does not make much sense,” Pavel said.
On Friday last week, less than a week after the elections, Babis announced that a possible government of ANO, SPD and the Motorists would have 16 members, including the prime minister. According to Babis, ANO will have nine seats, SPD three and the Motorists four. Pavel said yesterday that the coalition partners in a possible future government needed time to negotiate.
“Giving the government room to agree with its coalition partners on those things that will be related to security issues, foreign policy and energy is an important thing that takes time,” Pavel stressed. Earlier, he said that he would appoint the next prime minister at the earliest after the new Chamber of Deputies is formed. He has called the session for 3 November.
