Czech Senator Dienstbier to become Minister for Legislation, Human Rights and Equal Opportunities

The administrative board of the Czech Social Democratic Party (ČSSD) agreed today on its nominees for ministers to the incoming coalition government. Party chair Bohuslav Sobotka must first present the lineup to Czech President Miloš Zeman. 

Members of the ČSSD informed journalists of the decision after today’s negotiations were completed. The Czech News Agency has published a list of the probable ministers in the incoming coalition government. 

It is clear from that list that the new government will include the position of Human Rights Minister, staffed by Czech Senator Jiří Dienstbier, who was a topic of media speculation for the post at the end of 2013. The coalition agreement, including the names of incoming ministers, will be signed by the heads of all the governing parties on Monday at 14:00 in the lower house.  

The distribution of ministries should remain consistent with the previous agreement made by the chairs of all three coalition parties. "The Social Democrats have made their decision, the party has a list of the names of eight people, but we will not release it until we have communicated about the nominations with the President," Milan Chovanec, vice-chair of the ČSSD, told journalists.  

The ANO movement will have six seats in the cabinet, while the Christian Democrats (KDU-ČSL) will have three. Recently there has been speculation that ČSSD will appoint either Petr Krčál, a regional councilor from Vysočina, or former Czech Prime Minister Vladimír Špidla to head the Labor Ministry.    

A third candidate for Labor Minister was said to be Czech MP Roman Sklenák, but he has said he will remain head of the Social Democratic faction in the lower house. "It will depend what the party chair considers important for us to discuss. I believe it is too early to link this to any ministerial post," Špidla said when asked about his upcoming meeting with Sobotka this evening.   

During negotiations about other positions there was a clearer idea about who might be appointed – the Interior Ministry should be led by Milan Chovanec, now the governor of the Plzeň Region, the Foreign Ministry should be led by Lubomír Zaorálek, the Ministry of Industry should be led by Jan Mládek, the Ministry of Education by Marcel Chládek and the Human Rights Minister, who will also lead the Legislative Council of the Government, should be Senator Jiří Dienstbier. However, it will also be important to see what President Zeman does with these nominations.      

The candidate for Transportation Minister is also already clear. Antonín Prachař, director of the Omega Servis shipping firm, will be appointed to that post.  

"Yes, I officially received that offer today and accepted it," Prachař wrote to the Czech News Agency. The media had reported that other ANO candidates for the head of transportation had included, for example, Jan Klas, now the head of Air Traffic Control, or Czech MP Martin Kolovratník. 

Andrej Babiš, the head of the ANO 2011 movement, told the Czech News Agency that he had sent the CV of his transportation candidate to Sobotka this morning. "I spent all of Christmas dealing with the Transportation Minister. I have chosen a good person," Babiš told the Czech News Agency without further elaboration; there were most probably five candidates to choose from.   

Overview of the probable nominees for the incoming coalition government

ČSSD (probable nominees according to the Czech News Agency):

    Prime Minister: Bohuslav Sobotka
    Minister of Labor and Social Affairs: Vladimír Špidla
    Minister for Legislation, Human Rights and Equal Opportunities: Jiří Dienstbier
    Minister of Industry: Jan Mládek
    Minister of Education: Marcel Chládek
    Minister of the Interior: Milan Chovanec
    Minister of Foreign Affairs: Lubomír Zaorálek
    Minister of Health: Svatopluk Němeček

ANO 2011 (names are confirmed):

    Minister of Finance and Vice-Minister for the Economy: Andrej Babiš
    Minister of Transportation: Antonín Prachař
    Minister of Defense: Martin Stropnický
    Minister of Regional Development: Věra Jourová
    Minister of Justice: Helena Válková
    Minister of the Environment: Richard Brabec

KDU-ČSL (names are confirmed):

    Minister without Portfolio for Science and Innovation: Pavel Bělobrádek
    Minister of Culture: Daniel Herman
    Minister of Agriculture: Marian Jurečka.