The Minister of Health, Roman Prymula, who was caught violating COVID-19 related measures last week, announced that he might resign today. Prymula stated on Czech Television that he will leave once the successor is chosen.
Last week, Prymula said that he has no intentions to resign after a scandal which erupted following his night visit to a restaurant with the ANO’s first deputy chairman, Jaroslav Faltýnek. Prymula, however, stated he did nothing wrong except for being close to his driver for a few seconds. The Prime Minister, Andrew Babiš, condemned the act along with many other politicians. He warned that he is going to dismiss Prymula from the office himself shall the minister not resign. Prymula, in turn, suggested, that only the President can make such decisions. Miloš Zeman, the President of the Czech Republic, agreed with the proposal and the successor should be named shortly.
Current media reports suggest a few names of the people who might take on the role – one possibility is Aleksi Šedo, the Deputy Minister of Health, who also served as the Dean of the 1st Faculty of Medicine at Charles University. It might also be Jan Blatný, the Deputy of the University Hospital in Brno or Miroslav Ludvík, the ex-minister of Health and the director of the Motol hospital.
Zeman will meet with the candidates on Tuesday, and that is when the new Minister of Health is likely to be announced.
