Prague, July 9 (CTK) – Czech Justice Minister Tatana Mala (ANO) resigns after 13 days in the post, she told journalists on Monday, adding that the accusations of plagiarism in her theses, levelled against her, were just a campaign.
Mala said she insisted on her position that she did not had made any major mistake.
Prime Minister Andrej Babis (ANO) said he presumed he would ask President Milos Zeman to entrust him with temporarily heading the office instead of Mala.
Babis said now he would be looking for a different candidate for the post.
He said he presumed he would receive Mala’s official resignation on Tuesday.
“Due to the campaign led against me I simply do not want the movement [ANO] or the nascent government to be still harmed,” Mala said.
Babis said the ANO committee had expressed support for Mala and that the movement leadership believed that she did not cheat.
He said she had been behaved bravely. “Obviously, if she had not resigned, this would be harming not only the movement, but also the government that is to be expressed confidence on Wednesday all day long,” Babis said.
Babis said he did not presume that the confidence vote would be postponed after Mala’s resignation.
Mala’s resignation was demanded by the opposition and even an online petition was launched to this effect. Her critics say she illegally copied passages in her two theses.
