Four Ministers Leaving the Government, Premier Thanked for Their Work

Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek has announced changes in his Government at a press conference after Monday´s cabinet meeting. Leaving the Government are Vice Premier and Minister for Regional Development Jiøí Čunek, Health Minister Tomáš Julínek, Transportation Minister Aleš Řebíèek, and Minister for Human Rights and Ethnic Minorities Džamila Stehlíková.

The Prime Minister has thanked all the outgoing Ministers for their work. “I would like to thank primarily Jiøí Èunek, as the chairman of a coalition party, for having elevated the interests of the whole over his own personal interests. This is a historic decision and a major precedent which, as I hope, will lead to an improvement of the political culture in the Czech Republic,“ the Premier was quoted as saying on the departure of Vice Premier and Regional Development Minister Jiøí Čunek.

The Premier has then thanked Džamila Stehlíková for her work. He said she was the first Minister in the history of the Czech Republic in charge of human rights who - in the Prime Minister’s opinion - has fought a difficult battle for the prestige of this sector with the other Government Ministries. The Premier has also thanked Aleš Řebíèek for leading the transportation portfolio and for having introduced what the Premier called a “specialist and non-ideological approach“ to the transportation sector.

“Last but not least I would like to thank Tomáš Julínek who - as the very first Czech Health Minister - has succeeded in drafting and enforcing the necessary and sometimes unpopular changes in his sector. Thanks to his work, health care in the Czech Republic is now more accessible and solidary, and - for the first time since its establishment - the Czech system of health insurance is stable, offering citizens guarantees that they will receive up-to-date health care in time and at an adequate extent,“ the Premier has told Monday’s press conference. In his opinion, the change of the Health Minister was one of the most difficult decisions Mirek Topolánek had to take as the Prime Minister.

The Premier will introduce the new Ministers replacing the outgoing ones in the next few days.