Filip Turek, an MP for the Motorist Party, should resign from his post as government commissioner for the Green Deal, if the published footage of his car accident in Prague on Monday proves to be accurate, PM Andrej Babis (ANO) told CTK yesterday.
The Prime Minister said he believed the police should investigate the incident quickly, and that he had discussed the situation with Motorists leader and Foreign Minister Petr Macinka.
“I told [Macinka] that if the situation occurred the way it appears in the footage, Mr. Turek should take responsibility and resign from his position as commissioner. It was a close call – it could have been a much greater tragedy,” Babis added.
Upon his return from a visit to Israel yesterday evening, Macinka said that Turek had handled the situation in a mature manner. He praised Turek for stepping aside from his role as government commissioner until the investigation into the crash is completed.
In a video posted on Facebook, Turek stated that he would not serve as the government’s Green Deal commissioner until the police determined who was at fault for the crash. If the police determine that he was to blame for it, he will resign from his position as commissioner, he said.
“That’s a thoroughly mature approach,” Macinka said. “I will not participate in a kangaroo court. I will wait until the police investigate the case,” he told reporters.
In the incident, Turek collided with a hospital vehicle transporting biological material, whose driver sustained injuries.
According to the accident report published by Seznam Zpravy, the hospital car was sounding its siren as it drove through one of Prague’s busiest intersections, between Jecna and Sokolska streets. Turek’s car was the only one entering the intersection at that moment, having overtaken a line of waiting cars using the turning lane. It struck the rear of the hospital car, which was sent flying into the air, narrowly missing a group of pedestrians waiting at a crosswalk. The vehicle landed on its roof on the tram tracks, injuring the driver.
Opposition politicians calling for Turek’s resignation as commissioner and MP are also reacting to a video which shows that Turek was overtaking a line of waiting cars using the turning lane before the crash.
“The government appointed Turek as commissioner, so Babis shouldn’t wait around, he should dismiss him immediately. But above all, Turek must resign from his seat in parliament,” said ODS Senator Miroslava Nemcova, responding to Babis’s post on social media.
According to Jan Grolich, leader of the opposition Christian Democrats (KDU-CSL), Turek must step down immediately. “The prime minister must resolve this immediately. It’s already clear that [Turek] caused the accident because he overtook a line of cars in the turning lane. This must not happen to any driver,” wrote Grolich.
Police are reviewing surveillance footage and questioning those involved in the accident, Prague Police spokeswoman Eva Kropacova told CTK yesterday.
In Turek’s Facebook video, he said he had spoken to the driver of the hospital vehicle by phone. “He’s home from the hospital and has just an injured elbow, so that’s the good news,” he said.
Turek, who was unharmed in the incident, did not comment on the fact that he had been passing a line of waiting cars in the turning lane immediately beforehand, and reiterated that the lights had been green when he drove onto the intersection. He underwent a breathalyser test for alcohol, which he said had come back negative.
Karel Kirs, a spokesman for the Prague Emergency Medical Service, told CTK on Monday that paramedics had treated a man in his sixties for multiple injuries, including a moderate head injury. According to Kirs, the patient was conscious during transport to the trauma centre.
