KDU-CSL leaders unlikely to persuade Czech deputy PM to resign

A majority of members of the Christian Democrats (KDU-CSL) presidium do not intend to persuade party head Jiri Cunek to resign as deputy PM and local development minister, KDU-CSL deputy chairman Stanislav Juranek told CTK after a presidium meeting today.

The party will not thus accommodate PM Mirek Topolanek (Civic Democrats, ODS) who would like the party to persuade Cunek to leave the government since he considers dismissal as the worst possible option.

The matter will also be discussed by the party national committee, but Juranek said he does not expect any dramatic breakthrough.

Cunek has been suspected of corruption and his position has further worsened when he spoke about Romanies as about "sunburnt people who make mess with their family and put up fires in the square."

Juranek said that the presidium, the national committee and the national conference have already supported Cunek and that there is no reason to change the previous resolutions or to adopt new ones.

Defence Minister Vlasta Parkanova, KDU-CSL deputy chairwoman, however said previously that she is not going to call on Cunek to resign, but that she herself would resign were she in his place.

Adolf Jilek, head of the KDU-CSL senators, Pavel Severa, deputy and a member of the national committee, as well as MEP Jan Brezina have been critical of Cunek as well.

Topolanek said in daily Mlada fronta Dnes’s Saturday issue that he hopes that "KDU-CSL leaders understand now that the situation is serious, that this [Cunek’s scandal] has destabilised the coalition, that tension in individual parties and between parties is growing and that a solution is necessary. I’m not the one to rebuke anyone, but in my opinion the worst alternative would be if I were forced to dismiss Jiri Cunek."

Martin Bursik, head of the junior government Green Party, has conceded that Cunek’s further staying on government could be a reason for his party to leave the government coalition.

Representatives of all three government parties are again to discuss the issue on Wednesday. Romanies will stage a demonstration outside the government seat at the time.