Prague, June 19 (CTK) – Czech Education, Youth and Sports Minister Katerina Valachova (Social Democrats, CSSD) insists on her resignation, which President Milos Zeman accepted, she told journalists after they met today.
She said on Tuesday, Zeman will meet her current deputy Stanislav Stech and appoint him her successor on Wednesday.
In the past days, Zeman was calling on Valachova to reconsider her decision to leave the government, but Valachova told him today that her resignation is valid.
Valachova decided to resign over a possible abuse of sports subsidies of which her former deputy Simona Kratochvilova is also suspected.
The police have accused Kratochvilova of striking deals with former head of the football association, Miroslav Pelta, on the distribution of investment subsidies.
Valachova wanted to leave the post as from May 31, but Zeman does not agree with her departure, he persuaded her to change her mind and gave her time to reconsider her decision.
First, he set the deadline for June 10, when he returned from a visit to China and later extended it by one week.
Today, Zeman invited her to his seat at Prague Castle to tell him her decision.
“The president did not use any strong arguments, yet he repeated his call he made on me to reconsider my decision. I repeated my stance and my decision not to withdraw my resignation, which is valid, ” Valachova said.
“I think that if a political decision is made, it is right for a politician to stand by it even if it may hurt them, whether from the human or professional point of view,” she said.
ms/dr/pv
