Press Advisories

17. 12. 202115:56

At its first meeting, Petr Fiala's cabinet appointed deputy prime ministers and a new head of the Office of the Government and a new spokesperson

On Friday, 17 December 2021, the newly appointed Government headed by Petr Fiala met for the first time in Straka's Academy. The new cabinet designated Vít Rakušan as the first Deputy Prime Minister, appointed a new head of the Office of the Government and also a new Government spokesperson.

The first meeting of the new cabinet of Prime Minister Petr Fiala followed on from the previous appointment of the Government members by President Miloš Zeman at the Lány Chateau. At its initial meeting, the Government designated the Minister of the Interior, Vít Rakušan, as its First Deputy Prime Minister. The other Deputy Prime Ministers are Marian Jurečka, the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, temporarily entrusted with heading also the Ministry of Agriculture, Vlastimil Válek, the Minister of Health, and Ivan Bartoš, the Minister of Regional Development, who has become the Deputy Prime Minister for Digitisation. Mikuláš Bek was appointed the Minister for European Affairs, Helena Langšádlová is the new Minister of Science, Research and Innovation, and Michal Šalomoun is the Minister of Legislation and Chairman of the Government Legislative Council.

"I want to assure you that the whole of our Government is aware of the complicated situation in which we are assuming our responsibilities, and so we started our work immediately. We have agreed on the schedule of drawing up the government statement of policy so that the basic concept is prepared in early January. Today, I entrusted the Finance Minister Zbyněk Stanjura with a task to prepare a schedule of negotiating the budget and the rules under which the state will function in the period of the reversionary budget. We have also set up a group of ministers to immediately address energy prices and the related issues. These are things that can brook no delay, of course. Any extra day would be a luxury and, therefore, we must address them immediately and we are ready for it," Prime Minister Petr Fiala summed up the first steps of the new Government.

The Government also decided not to ask the Chamber of Deputies for extending the state of emergency. "We are monitoring the situation. If it deteriorates, the Government is prepared to return to the debate on another state of emergency. We know what is happening, we are monitoring the situation abroad and the situation around the Omicron variant and we are ready to act quickly, if necessary," said Prime Minister Fiala.

At the constituent meeting, the Government decided on filling the position of the head of the Office of the Government. With effect from today, Jana Kotalíková has been appointed the head of the Office of the Government. She replaced Tünde Bartha, the acting head of the Office of the Government.

The cabinet removed from office the Government spokesperson Jana Adamcová and appointed Václav Smolka, the hitherto spokesperson of the Civil Democratic Party, to the post.

After the first meeting of the Government ends, Prime Minister Fiala will inaugurate the ministers. The first minister to be installed into office by the Prime Minister will be Interior Minister Vít Rakušan, the First Deputy Prime Minister.