Prague, Dec 17 (CTK) – The Communist Party will not give up the nomination of MP Zdenek Ondracek, who was a policeman under the communist regime, for the head of the lower house commission supervising the General Inspection of Security Forces (GIBS), KSCM lower house group’s chairman Pavel Kovacik said on Sunday.
“We have no reason to withdraw him,” Kovacik told the public Czech Television (CT) about Ondracek’s candidacy.
Ondracek had been a member of the communist riot police unit that took part in a crackdown on a peaceful demonstration against the regime in 1989.
Ondracek failed to be election head of the commission supervising the GIBS on Friday. He won 85 out of 186 votes on Sunday, while a majority is needed to be elected. He was the only candidate.
The second secret vote will be held on Tuesday.
The parties in parliament previously agreed that the post of the head of this commission would go to the KSCM. The ANO movement and other parties proposed that the KSCM nominate a different candidate. The Communists rejected it.
KSCM leader Vojtech Filip told the party’s central executive committee meeting on Saturday he hoped that ANO leader Andrej Babis would make the MPs of his party support Ondracek on Tuesday.
Most of the nine parties in the lower house rejected the nomination of Ondracek.
ANO has 78 MPs in the 200-seat lower house, the KSCM has 15 MPs and the anti-immigrant Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) has 22 MPs.
The KSCM and the SPD were the only parties that said they were considering supporting Babis’s minority cabinet if ANO supported their priorities. The confidence vote in the government will be held by the lower house on January 10.
Lower house deputy chairman Vojtech Pikal (Pirates) confirmed to CT on Sunday that his party would not support Ondracek for the head of the commission monitoring the GIBS inspection.
Pikal also said the Pirates would try to reverse the lower house’s decision according to which Kovacik chairs the commission for the operation of the lower house, although it was previously agreed that the Pirates would head this commission.
“I am not going to resign. Let them dismiss me,” Kovacik said.
