President to appoint Picek defence minister

Prague, March 18 (CTK) - Czech President Milos Zeman will appoint Vlastimil Picek, current first deputy defence minister and former military chief-of-staff, to the post of defence minister on Tuesday at the request of Prime Minister Petr Necas, the Presidential Office announced Monday.

Earlier Monday, Necas (Civic Democrats, ODS) said in a press release that he had proposed Picek's appointment to the president.

Necas said Picek completely fulfils his idea of an unaffiliated expert with all preconditions to occupy the post of defence minister.

"The past three months also proved that he was able to fully represent the sector at home and abroad," Necas said.

Karolina Peake, deputy PM and head of the junior government party LIDEM, said she disapproves Picek's nomination.

Necas has been temporarily heading the ministry since December 2012 when Peake was dismissed from the post of defence minister after merely eight days in office.

Zeman indicated on Friday that he expected Picek to be appointed a new defence minister.

"I will sincerely congratulate the prime minister on his very good choice," Zeman said at the Social Democrat (CSSD) congress in Ostrava, north Moravia, then.

The government TOP 09 withdrew its objections to Picek last week.

Peake Monday said now "the ministry will simply be managed by the one who was to manage it when I was minister. We will simply stop pretending things," Peake said.

When Peake assumed office of defence minister last December, she dismissed Picek as deputy minister immediately, but Necas re-installed him in the post after firing Peake.

LIDEM is not to leave the government coalition over Picek's appointment.

"We disagree with the decision but we have no constitutional instruments to prevent this step [of Necas]," Peake said on behalf of LIDEM.

She said she will have no problem cooperating with Picek at cabinet meetings.

Peake said Necas has strangely breached a principle he had set himself, as he previously asserted that he sought a candidate for defence minister who would be an unaffiliated expert acceptable for all three coalition partners.