Czech President Miloš Zeman expressed his support today for the striking staffers of the Czech Government Agency for Social Inclusion. Zeman also said he did not see any reason to split the Agency into two departments as has been proposed.
The President alleged that the idea was just an "evasive maneuver" in order to remove the current director, whom he considers competent. He made his remarks during a visit to the Olomouc Region.
Zeman’s remarks were a criticism of Czech Human Rights Minister Jiří Dienstbier (Czech Social Democratic Party – ČSSD), whose office is responsible for the Agency. Most of its staffers went on strike on Monday due to their disagreements with the minister about the future of the Agency.
The protest strike has since been temporarily suspended. "I sympathize with those who have gone on strike and I express my support for them against this absurd decision," Zeman said during his visit to the Olomouc Region.
The President was referring to the recent dismissal of the head of the Agency, Martin Šimáček, and to the planned reorganization of the Agency, said to be necessary because of a new law on civil service. According to Dienstbier’s original plan, the Agency was to be divided into two sections as of 1 July.
"Splitting the Agency in half was just an evasive maneuver to remove a person from a leadership position who has led the Agency as a whole in a competent fashion. The point was to get rid of him because he is a person who, at every meeting with a minister who shall remain nameless, demonstrates that there is a great difference between them in terms of competence. There is no reason to split the Agency in two," Zeman said.
The President claimed to have formulated his remarks in such a way as to avoid breaking the law. Dienstbier responded through his Facebook profile as follows: "This comment demonstrates an ignorance of this matter and a personal gripe. It’s not even a surprise."
"Mr President will evidently take advantage of every possible opportunity to criticize me, which results in our mutual animosity. Unfortunately, he knows almost nothing about this case, nor has he attempted to learn the details from either myself or my office," the minister told the Czech News Agency through his spokesperson.
Dienstbier said he does not believe Zeman is interested in inclusion, judging by his remarks about the integration of children with disabilities or Romani children into the schools. In January the President said he is opposed to children with certain disabilities being educated in the same classrooms as other children.
Relations between Dienstbier and Zeman have long been tense. They ran against each other for President and Dienstbier is a frequent critic of Zeman.
The head of state has criticized the Human Rights Minister for proposing that the President’s powers should be restricted, among other ideas. Staffers of the Agency have been demanding autonomy for their institution and independence from the minister.
Their dispute with Dienstbier was sparked by his dismissal of their director, by disagreements over the use of EU money and how to follow the effectiveness of its expenditure on Romani integration, and by the planned reorganization of the Agency. The minister has now postponed the changes until January 2016.
The protesting staffers were seeking a meeting with Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka (ČSSD). They suspended their strike after one day and will be received by the PM on 19 May.
Those on strike will then decide how to proceed on 20 May, depending on the outcome of those negotiations. Reportedly 20 employees are prepared to quit the Agency if their demands are not met.
The Agency now works in 36 towns and villages, where it helps local authorities solve their problems with ghettos. In the coming years the Agency might be able to draw on up to CZK 10 billion for social inclusion work from EU funds, and Dienstbier is planning for it to operate in 70 places nationwide with 100 employees.
