- Igor Červený is the new nominee for the Czech Minister of the Environment.
- Motorists changed their stance and proposed a new candidate instead of Turk.
- The Turk remains the government’s plenipotentiary for climate policy and the Green Deal.
- The dispute over the appointment of ministers sparked a constitutional debate between the government and the president.
The new nominee for the post of Czech Minister of the Environment is Igor Červený, a member of parliament for the Motoristi sebe party. The Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, Andrej Babiš, announced this on Monday after the government meeting. The previous nominee for this post, Filip Turek, announced on Sunday on social networks that Motoristi will introduce a new candidate. Two weeks ago, he said that the party would not propose another candidate, writes TASR correspondent in Prague.
“I am glad that the Motorists took a constructive approach to this problem, which has been bothering us for a long time, and that we have solved it,” he said Grandma. He has already sent the proposal to the President and at the same time asked him to revoke the mandate of Peter Macink to lead the Department of the Environment.
For a long time, the Motorists refused to propose another candidate for this post, explaining that they had already given way enough to President Petr Pavlov by exchanging nominations for the departments of environment and foreign affairs between Turek and the chairman of the Motorists, Petr Macink. Macinka, who is currently the head of both ministries, announced two weeks ago that he could lead them until the end of the current president’s mandate, and the new head of state could then appoint Turk as a minister.
However, motorists soon changed their minds. A Turk, who in the meantime became the government representative for climate policy and the European Green Deal (Green Deal), published a video on Sunday in which he said that he decided to offer Babis the possibility of a new nominee. “He will be a minister who will be very serious and who will do what he sees in my eyes in the ministry,” he declared in the video.
On Monday, before the government meeting, journalists asked him about the sudden change of opinion. “I told myself that the wiser man would retreat,” replied the Turk. He pointed out that the pressure of society does not benefit the relations between the government and the president. “I realized last week that it would probably be appropriate to reduce the pressure a little. I think it is not appropriate to have a head of state who violates the constitution for a long time. It is not good for the Czech Republic, so I thought it was appropriate to take this step,” he explained. He pointed out that nothing will change for him. He will remain the government representative for climate policy and the Green Deal, and with the new minister they will only divide the agenda.
The alleged violation of the constitution by the president has been argued by Motoristi since the beginning of this dispute. According to them, Pavel should appoint all the ministers that the prime minister proposes to him, and he does not have the competence to reject anyone. According to several lawyers and political scientists, Pavel is walking on the edge of the constitution by rejecting the Turk, but they point out that previous presidents have done the same. The dispute could only be resolved by filing a competent lawsuit against the president, which would be decided by the Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic. But the government refuses.
