A war of words has erupted between Czech politicians, after Foreign Minister Petr Macinka (Motorists) sent a barrage of text messages to President Petr Pavel last night, via Pavel’s advisor Petr Kolar, which were characterised by Pavel today as an attempt at blackmail.
Pavel said he would file a complaint with the security services and submit Macinka’s messages to lawyers for assessment to determine whether they meet the definition of the crime of blackmail. The police said they had received a request to investigate the content of the messages.
The text messages were subsequently published by the Presidential Office on social media. In the messages, Macinka, the leader of the Motorists, states that the president could rest easy if the Motorists’ honorary chairperson Filip Turek was appointed as Environment Minister.
Pavel has pointedly refused to appoint Turek to the cabinet, arguing that Turek has repeatedly shown a lack of respect for the Czech legal system. The frequency, intensity, and long-term nature of this behaviour indicate that these are not one-off excesses due to youthful recklessness, the president explained previously in a letter to Babis.
If Pavel does not at least agree to negotiations, wrote Macinka last night, the consequences will surprise not only him. He threatened that he is willing to “burn bridges in a way that would make the political science textbooks,” and claimed that he had the support of coalition partners Tomio Okamura (SPD) and Prime Minister Andrej Babis (ANO).
“I understand that the President will not allow himself to be blackmailed, but politics is about compromise if he wants to have any influence,” the messages continued. “Either everything will be possible, or nothing will be possible. One signature is enough…”
Macinka said he wanted a decision from the president by Wednesday, when Macinka will meet his EU counterparts in Brussels.
“If he does nothing, or at least does not agree to some negotiations on Turek at the Ministry of the Environment, the consequences will surprise him greatly (and not only him),” Macinka wrote. He also said that the only reason Ukraine will not receive L-159 aircraft is that Pavel spoke about it rashly to the media.
Pavel said he believes that Macinka does not have Babis’s support. “If he really has the prime minister’s support in his actions, then Petr Macinka’s statements are not only an illustration of the new government’s approach to power sharing in our constitutional order, but also proof that fundamental issues of our foreign and security policy have become hostage to personal animosities and interests,” Pavel said.
If Macinka does not have Babis’s support, his messages are an illustration of the arbitrary and irresponsible approach of the Motorists, who are only interested in fulfilling their own ambition to appoint a controversial figure to the cabinet at any cost, Pavel said.
According to Pavel, Macinka has been trying for some time to influence his position on Turek’s appointment, including through communication with his colleagues and advisors. However, he considers Macinka’s current statements in the messages to be unacceptable and completely intolerable in a democratic society.
“No intimidation will work on me, I will continue to be guided primarily by the Constitution and the interests of the Czech Republic,” Pavel said.
At a press conference this afternoon, Macinka denied that his messages to Kolar were attempts to blackmail the president, as trying to influence someone’s position is the essence of every negotiation in politics.
Macinka said his entire position is based on the fact that Pavel is acting outside the constitutional framework with his non-standard approach to appointing the government. He again criticised the president for refusing to appoint Turek as environment minister.
The foreign minister also suggested that Pavel should not represent the Czech Republic at the NATO summer summit in Turkey as planned, and that he intends to communicate this position to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Wednesday in Brussels.
The Czech opposition parties are calling for Macinka to step down as head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs over the threatening text messages. KDU-CSL and TOP 09 leaders Marek Vyborny and Matej Ondrej Havel called for Macinka’s resignation, while Pirate leader Zdenek Hrib and ODS leader Martin Kupka said Babis should propose Macinka’s dismissal.
Mayors and Independents (STAN) leader Vit Rakusan told reporters after the publication of Macinka’s messages that it was clearly illegitimate pressure on the president’s decision-making. He called for a debate on the issue in the Chamber of Deputies today, with an explanation from Macinka and Babis.
Pirate MP Ivan Bartos, a former deputy prime minister, said the issue was very serious. “This is not a normal disagreement about government policy and the president. From my point of view, this is simply an unprecedented attack and the imposition of conditions just to get some cushy job or position for [the Motorists’] mascot Filip Turek,” he said.
Defending Macinka’s messages, Chamber of Deputies Speaker and SPD leader Tomio Okamura said such a style of communication is commonly used by the opposition in the Chamber, and said he definitely does not side with the President.
In a statement to CTK, Babis said that Macinka’s words were “unfortunate”, but added that it was a private communication with an advisor, so definitely could not be considered blackmail.
Babis said that he had always tried to maintain a proper relationship with Pavel and resolved any disagreements behind closed doors. “I would certainly not communicate in this way, it is not my style,” he said. “I think that first and foremost, we need to calm emotions on both sides and start communicating normally again.”
ANO parliamentary leader Tatana Mala said she does not consider the manner of communication used by Macinka to be appropriate, but neither does she approve of the president’s publication of the messages. She said the Coalition Council would address the issue.
According to Mala, escalating the situation will not lead to anything good. “We all feel the tension between the president and the Motorists regarding the appointment of Filip Turek as minister; the situation has been tense for a long time,” she noted.
