Prague - It has been one month since the "Christmas" government crisis in the Czech Republic, but the tensions between the right-wing Civic Democratic Party (ODS), the largest member of the coalition, and junior government party Public Affairs remain high.
The issue of the new police president remains at the center of the dispute.
In the second half of December 2010, a corruption scandal erupted in the State Environmental Fund, leading to the resignation of Environment Minister Pavel Drobil (ODS) and a motion of no-confidence raised by the opposition Social Democratic Party.
Read more: Czech govt to face no-confidence vote over corruption
Surprisingly, Public Affairs said they were not sure whether they would support the coalition, and asked for police president Oldřich Martinů to be removed from his post. The reason was that on December 17, 2010, Martinů met with PM Nečas, with Interior Affairs Minister and chairman of Public Affairs Radek John not being informed about the meeting.
Read more: Key govt meeting shipwrecks ahead of no-confidence vote
Eventually, President Václav Klaus mediated a meeting behind closed doors between all three parliamentary parties. After several hours, the parties and president said that an agreement was reached, refusing to give any details to media. Subsequently, Public Affairs supported the government, and the police president resigned.
Read more: Czech government survives motion of no-confidence
However, a new dispute emerged quickly, centered around the question of who will be the new police president. The tension remains as high as it was in the late-December last year, and many people from the ODS say, on condition of anonymity, that they are growing increasingly tired of Public Affairs.
Interior Minister and leader of Public Affairs Radek John suggested his candidate, Petr Lessy, however PM Petr Nečas (ODS) did not agree. Today, John and Nečas met for about 45 minutes, reaching what looks like a compromise. John said he will wait with appointing Petr Lessy, and Nečas stated he wants to meet Lessy and only after that he will decide whether to support his candidature.
However, PM Nečas did not try to hide his disagreement with how was the candidate selected, indicting that the process was politically influenced by Radek John's Public Affairs.
The intra-government dispute thus continues, and the Czech police remains without president.
