The heads of Public Affairs’ (VV) Prague districts have called on chairman Radek John to stand down and for a party conference to be held in May to choose a successor.
In response to the call, which came in a joint email, John said he would not consider the proposal until the outcome of negotiations with the party’s two partners in the national coalition goverment, the Civic Democrats (ODS) and Top 09, is known.
“[Despite] all of Radek John’s worthy endeavors, the time has come to give a new style of leadership a chance. The current style is leading us only to a definitive and irreversible exit from the political scene,” the Prague party representatives said in the email, a copy of which was obtained by novinky.cz, the web server of the daily Právo.
“[I]nstead of building a functioning party structure, the current leadership is consumed with court battles or continual obstruction within the framework of the [governing] coalition. Instead of gaining more members, those who some time ago established the party are leaving,” it continued.
Novinky.cz reported Friday that VV’s chapters in the South Bohemia and Pardubice regions backed the call for a party conference in May to select a new leader.
Support for defiant cabinet members
At the same time, the leaders of the Prague cells of VV voiced their support for the party’s three Cabinet minisiters — deputy prime minister Karolína Peake, Minister of Transport Pavel Dobeš and Minister of regional Development Kamil Jankovský — who earlier this week rejected a call by John and now former deputy party Leader Tomáš Jarolím (he resigned as deputy leader on Thursday) to resign from the cabinet and for the party to quit the ruling coalition.
VV’s Prague regional chapter voted for John and head of the party’s club of MPs Vít Bárta — currently standing trial on charges of offering bribes — to represent the party in parliament.
John on Friday issued a guarded, if not defiant, response to the call for him to step aside, saying he could not consider such a move before the results of negotiations with coalition partners on a new power-sharing arrangement are known. Prime Minister Petr Nečas (Civic Democrats, ODS) has set Tuesday, March 10, as the deadline for a new agreement, failing which he said he would call early elections.
“Until that time, I will not comment on the calls [to resign], which are weakening Public Affairs’ negotiating position,” John said in his statement.
