Olomouc, North Moravia, Oct 13 (CTK) – Olomouc Region Governor Ladislav Oklestek has rejected the call by Marian Jurecka, the agriculture minister and member of the regional assembly, that the region should not pay the costs of President Milos Zeman’s upcoming visit, he told journalists on Friday.
The costs of Zeman’s three-day visit scheduled for November 8-10 will be probably lower than those of his previous visits, Oklestek (ANO) said.
Jurecka is a deputy chairman of the junior ruling Christian Democrats (KDU-CSL) and their regional leader in the October 20-21 general election.
In the regional assembly, Jurecka represents the opposition Coalition of the Olomouc Region.
Earlier on Friday, he wrote on his Facebook profile that as a regional assemblyman, he is “asking the governor not to pay the costs of President Zeman’s November visit to the Olomouc Region from the region’s budget.”
“These sizeable costs can be invested to support small projects in villages,” Jurecka wrote.
Zeman recently cancelled a planned trip to the Zlin Region, south Moravia, after its governor, Jiri Cunek (KDU-CSL), said the region would only cover a dinner for the delegation worth up to 30,000 crowns. Zeman decided to go to the Olomouc Region instead.
Oklestek said the costs of Zeman’s tour cannot be estimated beforehand since they are always known only after the tour’s end.
“I suppose they will be lower [than before]. I will always act as a responsible manager, without wasting money inappropriately,” he told reporters.
He said he follows a resolution recently passed by the Czech Regions’ Association, which appreciated Zeman’s tours of the country’s self-rule regions, of which there are 14, including the capital of Prague.
Zeman, who will seek re-election as president in January, has been visiting all regions regularly since he took office in 2013.
Oklestek said the region paid more than 300,000 crowns for Zeman’s latest visit in March.
“I don’t view this as the coverage of [Zeman’s] campaign. I view it as the financing of the president’s visit to our region…, which I take as an honour, and we will behave accordingly,” Oklestek said when asked whether Zeman’s visit cannot be considered a part of his campaign two months before the direct presidential election.
The accommodation of the First Lady and company was also covered from the region’s budget, while the accommodation of the bodyguards was paid by the Presidential Office.
Petr Danek, the region’s opposition assemblyman (Mayors for Olomouc Region), said the regional authority should open a debate on the issue.
He told CTK that the region should contribute as a host, but within appropriate price limits.
Assemblyman Alexander Cerny (opposition Communists, KSCM) told CTK that the president goes to the Olomouc Region quite often and that it is time to consider splitting the costs between the Regional Office and the Presidential Office.
