Czech President Defies Governing Coalition in Naming Premier
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Version 0 of 1. PRAGUE — President Milos Zeman of the Czech Republic appointed his leftist economic adviser as prime minister on Tuesday, openly defying the choice of the outgoing center-right governing coalition, which is ensnared in a corruption and bribery scandal. The nominee, Jiri Rusnok, 52, is a staunch loyalist who supported Mr. Zeman’s presidential campaign, and analysts suggested his appointment was an effort by Mr. Zeman to expand his own authority. If he wins a vote of confidence in Parliament, Mr. Rusnok will replace Petr Necas, who resigned last week after a senior aide was charged with bribery and abuse of office. The aide was accused, among other things, of ordering the Czech military intelligence service to spy on several people, including Mr. Necas’s wife. The aide, Jana Nagyova, Mr. Necas’s chief of staff, was among eight people, including the current and former heads of military intelligence, who were arrested on June 13 in the most extensive anticorruption operation since the fall of communism. Mr. Rusnok served as finance minister in the Social Democratic government from 2001 to 2002 when Mr. Zeman was prime minister, and he was the industry and trade minister in a later government. A pragmatist who has worked both for trade unions and in the private sector, Mr. Rusnok is now a pension fund chairman. The departing center-right coalition government, which holds a parliamentary majority, had opposed Mr. Rusnok’s appointment. Last week it nominated Miroslava Nemcova, the speaker of the lower house, as its candidate for prime minister. But Mr. Zeman said Tuesday that he had promised during the presidential elections in January that he would take down the Necas government and that he was fulfilling his promise. He said a caretaker government would be best equipped to ensure that an investigation of the corruption scandal would not be influenced by political pressure. If Mr. Rusnok fails to win the vote Parliament, Mr. Zeman is allowed to appoint two more prime ministers. If neither of them is approved, national elections would be called. In the absence of a government, the parties can also move to dissolve Parliament, which would lead to early elections, which would likely be held in November or December. Analysts said early elections would probably clear the way for a government led by the Social Democrats, whose promise to increase spending has resonated with voters who are disenchanted with an austerity drive and upset by corruption accusations surrounding the Civic Democrats, the largest of the governing parties. Mr. Rusnok said Tuesday that he had no plans to overhaul the previous government’s economic policy. The Czech Republic is in a mild recession, and the latest corruption scandal has provoked a backlash. Beyond the accusation that she used the secret services for personal reasons, Ms. Nagyova, the chief of staff who has been arrested, has also inspired public contempt for her lavish lifestyle, including a penchant for Louis Vuitton purses and Champagne breakfasts. Ms. Nagyova has been charged with bribery for offering posts in state-owned companies to several rebellious members of Parliament if they agreed to surrender their seats, an accusation that she has denied. Jaroslav Plesl, the deputy editor of Tyden, a leading political weekly magazine, said Mr. Zeman, the republic’s first popularly elected president, appeared intent on exploiting the scandal to increase his power. “He sees that the Czechs are fed up with corruption and the outgoing government and is so using the situation to expand his authority with a weak government he can control,” Mr. Plesl said. “What is clear is that Mr. Zeman is now running the country.” <NYT_AUTHOR_ID> <p><em>Jana Marie Preiss contributed reporting from Prague.</em> |