On Monday, Czech President Petr Pavel received MP Filip Turk from the Motorist party, who nominated him for the post of Minister of the Environment, at the Prague Castle. Pavel has repeatedly expressed doubts about Turk’s competence to occupy this position. The deputy declared after the meeting that there is no concrete result in this direction yet, reports TASR according to the Novinky.cz website.
- President Petr Pavel received MP Filip Turk in Prague.
- The Motorists Party nominated Turk for the post of Minister of the Environment.
- Pavel expressed doubts about Turk’s competence to occupy this position.
- The Turk admitted his mistakes, but claims that he will not be disqualified.
- The President will decide on the appointment of a Turk to a ministerial post.
According to Turk, the hour-long discussion with the head of state was substantive, although it was more about general topics. The MP said he was trying to explain the cases that have sparked controversy and for which he is facing criticism.
The Turk acknowledged the mistakes
Turek admitted that he made some mistakes, but according to him, they do not disqualify him from holding the position of Minister of the Environment. Motorists reportedly have no other candidate. He declared that the decision regarding the filling of this post will be up to Pavlo. “We will wait for the president’s announcement,” said Turek. “I believe that I managed to explain some things to Mr. President, it will be difficult to come to terms with some,” he added.
He refused to submit the so-called competence lawsuit in the event that, despite the nomination, Pavel does not appoint him. “I think the right way forward is different,” Turek noted, adding that such a lawsuit could ultimately strengthen the president.
Background of the nomination
The website Novinky.cz recalls that Turek was the only candidate for minister whom Pavel did not meet before the appointment of the new government of Andrej Babiš. The deputy could not participate in the planned meeting because he was hospitalized due to problems with the disc.
In the meantime, Pavel appointed Babiš’s cabinet and temporarily entrusted the position of Minister of the Environment to the chairman of the Motorists Party, Petar Macinka, who is also the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Motorists insist that the Turk should become a minister, and consider his scandals to be media hype. However, Pavlov is disturbed by how the MP approaches facts, law and rules. He has already emphasized several times that the Turk should not be a member of the government, but he wanted to give him space to explain his cases.
On Monday morning, Pavel said that the meeting with Turk was “an expression of good will”, concludes the website Novinky.cz.
