Culture could temporarily be led by Kalistová according to Babiš

Prague – Prime Minister Andrej Babiš (ANO) has called a meeting at the Ministry of Culture for Wednesday morning, according to Czech Television. Temporarily, according to the Prime Minister, the office could be led by Deputy Minister for Live Art Management Kateřina Kalistová (ČSSD). This was later confirmed by ČTK. In May, Kalistová stated in response to a ČTK inquiry that she was not considering the position of minister. At that time, she was among the possible candidates for Minister of Culture to replace Antonín Staněk (ČSSD). In the Rozstřel program on the iDNES.cz portal today, Babiš said that he expects the situation at the ministry to be clear by August 26 at the latest, following the government recess. If not, he will take significant steps, he said. ČTK did not want to elaborate on potential further steps.

On Wednesday, Babiš met with President Miloš Zeman in Lánech. The head of state confirmed that he would dismiss Staněk by July 31. The ČSSD will decide on a nomination for a new minister in mid-August. The Prime Minister informed about this on Twitter. The ČSSD has proposed its vice-chairman Michal Šmarda as the new minister and rejects any other nomination. Babiš discussed the outcome of the meeting in Lánech with Hamáček today morning.

"We have a government meeting after the holidays on August 26. The president promised to make a statement in mid-August, so I expect that by August 26 at the latest, it will be clear. Then, of course, if the situation is not clear, I will take some significant steps," Babiš told iDNES.cz. He also stated that he hoped the situation would be resolved by the end of July. According to the constitution, Zeman should appoint Šmarda, but he also reiterated that the constitution does not have deadlines.

"It's simply a clash of opinions between the president and the social democrats. Now it is clear that Minister Staněk will resign, but the president has not clearly said that he will not appoint Mr. Šmarda. He said he would comment on the nomination of the social democrats, unfortunately, in two weeks," the Prime Minister added.

According to Babiš, the request for Staněk’s dismissal was surprising and atypical. "There were some agreements that I do not even really know about. Some conversations with the president from the side of the social democrats. In mid-May, that changed, and this situation arose. The Minister of Culture feels betrayed, deceived," Babiš stated. Therefore, according to him, it took time for Zeman to approve Staněk’s dismissal. The Prime Minister claims this happened at a meeting on July 11.

Staněk submitted his resignation in mid-May, which Zeman did not accept. At the end of the month, at the request of the ČSSD, Babiš proposed the president to dismiss the minister and simultaneously appoint Šmarda. According to the constitution, the president must comply with the proposal for dismissal, but Zeman repeatedly indicated that he would prefer Staněk to remain in the cabinet.

The ČSSD threatened to leave the government if Staněk did not exit the cabinet and Zeman did not appoint Šmarda instead. According to the social democrats, their participation in the government would lose its meaning if they could not decide who to send to the cabinet. The situation surrounding Staněk is the longest-lasting case where the president refused to comply with the Prime Minister regarding a proposed change in the government.