Negotiations over new cabinet continue
Following yesterday’s negotiations over the forming of a new government with the Social Democrats, Jan Fisher will meet today with the ODS and the Green Party. Meetings will take place today at Hrzánský Palace with Green Party Chairman Martin Bursik at 10am followed in the afternoon by leader of the ODS Mirek Topolánek.
Following last night’s meeting with Jan Fischer, ČSSD Chairman Jiří Paroubek has already, announced his suggestions for seven members of the new government.
The final make-up of the new administrative cabinet of experts is expected to be finalised over the next week.
Who will lead the EU? Maybe even eurosceptic Klaus
The political parties are afraid of eurosceptic President Klaus taking over the reigns of the EU and are looking for a suitable ‘euro-assistant’ for new Prime Minister Fischer.
The Czech Republic appointed a new Prime Minister yesterday and Europe is asking who will take over the office of the EU Presidency.
Czech politicians are clear on this: Jan Fischer. It could be however that President Václav Klaus takes over the reigns, which is a big worry for Czech politics.
The Constitution is unclear on what should happen. On one side it states that it is the government which leads the country. On the other hand it adds that the President of the Republic represents the country in external matters.
Politicians are hastily trying to find an ideal candidate for the position of the new Minister for European Affairs. This would be a person who could not only continue the Czech EU Presidency but also ‘support’ new Prime Minister Jan Fischer in his dealings with the EU.
Fischer: I have a huge amount of work to do
He’ll become Prime Minister today, even without support from leadership of the People’s party. Awaiting him will be a ‘choice’ of ministers dictated to him by the political parties. ‘I might veto some names. And why not?’, said the Chairman of the Czech Office of Stastistics Jan Fischer in an interview with Lidové Noviny.
How do you respond to hearing that the leaders of the two most powerful parties ODS and ČSSD have told the President of the Republic that a decision has been reached, and that tomorrow at 2pm you will be named Prime Minister?
I released a statement about that and nothing has since changed so there’s nothing I can add. I can confirm of course that I accept the task. But at the moment there’s nothing further I can say. More information will follow today, but we are at the beginning in all of this. The statement says that we agreed with both leaders, ODS and ČSSD, that the negotiations for the forming of a new government will begin right after Easter. To say anything else right now would be premature and speculative.
A couple of days ago you reacted sceptically to the question of becoming Prime Minister due to concerns about the party secretaries. The people’s party were against, but even so you will still be Prime Minister. What feelings do you have on this?
I don’t consider that important. I’ll just repeat that I’m prepared to accept the nomination for the title of new Prime Minister. And my task will be first of all to establish a new government. That’s really all I’m prepared to say. I don’t have anything to add.
I was asking about human emotions. You will be Prime Minister. Surely you myst feel something…
Of course, that feeling is huge, huge, huge, If you want human emotions then immense, gigantic, enormous. The work and the responsibilities which lie before me are huge. A huge amount of work will be necessary in the choosing of each cabinet members. To prepare a good team. To organise an agenda.. That is what I feel, the endless amount of work which I have before me…
I was asking however about your first reaction, when you found out that on Thursday you’ll go to the castle and the President will name you Prime Minister. Surely you didn’t just say to yourself well yeah, that’ll be a lot of work…
That’s exactly what I said to myself. That’s when I realised that the work is already on its way, that it’s actually true and that right after Easter that the negotiations will actually start. One of those human emotions was that I will have to carefully hand over the Czech Office of Statistics so that the institution, which employs 1600 people, can continue to function well. These are practical things. Another thing is that you loose some of your privacy. Definitely. That also means something. For your family. That you have to organise your life in a different way. In a way that will allow you some time for basic privacy. Probably not. But I take that into account. It will be very different to anything I’ve done so far. I’ve watched from the sidelines, but I’ve never been directly involved. I am however optimistic.
Fischer: Everyone has to want me, otherwise I won't get involved in politics
I’m prepared to lead the country towards snap elections only as long as all political parties are in agreement.
This is a basic prerequisite of the Chairman of the Czech Office of Statistics Jan Fischer who was chosen to be nominated Prime Minister by leaders of the four political parties during Sunday night’s negotiations at the Kramářov villa.
He has however other conditions which are no less significant.
‘And that after my five or six months service so to speak, I want to return to my field of work, to my institution. I have there much unfinished work,’ Fischer said in an interview with aktualne.cz
The choice, it appears, even appeals to President Klaus, who pushed cross-party politicians into reaching an agreement when he requested a quick solution to the political crisis.
‘I’m pleased with the agreement in principle. I don’t want to speak prematurely because undoubtedly there could still be some obstructions from those within the parties unhappy that they were not considered for the position,’ said Klaus on Czech Radio.
Surprise Agreement: Caretaker Prime Minister to be statistician Jan Fischer
Presiding over the government which should steer the Czech Republic towards snap elections in the autumn will most likely be Chairman of the Czech Office of Statistics Jan Fischer.
The decision was announced by Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek following negotiations between the three parties of the governing coalition and the social democrat opposition on Sunday evening.
‘We agreed that I will put the proposal for the name of the new Government Chairman to the President,’ informed Mirek Topolánek after the negotiations. ‘That name will be Jan Fischer’.
The three parties of the governing coalition signed a collective agreement that parliamentary snap elections should take place by 15th October at the latest. ‘The elections will most likely take place on the 9th and 10th of October.’
Mirek Topolánek stated that the Chairman of the Office of Statistics is s person who will reliably lead the Czech Republic towards elections. ‘He is a universally respected individual whom we all agreed on without a problem’, said the Prime Minister.
Topolánek’s words were also confirmed by ČSSD Chairman Jiří Paroubek who further specified that the new government won’t be comprised of any current ministers.
‘The new cabinet will consist of cross-party experts which each of the parties will propose to Mr Fisher,’ advised Paroubek.
Jan Fischer was born in Prague in 1951. After the foundation of the Czech Republic as an autonomous state he was from the year 1993 Vice Chairman of the Czech Office of Statistics and from the beginning of the 1990’s headed the teams processing the results of parliamentary and community elections.
He was named Chairman of the Office of Statistics by President Klaus in April 2003. He’s a member of several prestigious institutions including the Czech Statistics Society and the International Institute of Statistics.
