Czech President Petr Pavel has said that populist politician Filip Turek is not a suitable candidate to become a minister unless he clarifies his position on a series of controversial cases, writes Politico.
Pavel told Czech TV on the 1st of December that the objections were mainly caused by publicly discussed issues. The president stressed that he respects the presumption of innocence, and Turek is not being prosecuted. “But we do expect a bit more from politicians than just not being in conflict with the law,” the president said.
Turek is the honorary president of the right-wing populist party Motoristé sobé. Turek has been accused of sexual assault by his ex-girlfriend, but the politician has called the accusation absurd. Turek has also been accused of making racist, sexist and homophobic comments on the Facebook. He denies this too, but the police are currently investigating both the violence and the posts on the social network.
The Czech president said that he believes that Turek should at least fully and responsibly explain everything that is currently happening around his personality, otherwise the impression will be that he is really not a suitable candidate for the position of environment minister.
Pavel avoided confirming that he could use his veto power to prevent Turek from being appointed to the position.
The president has previously indicated that he will refuse to appoint candidates who support the Czech Republic’s withdrawal from NATO or the European Union, and noted that defending democratic institutions is an important criterion for him.
Individual talks between the candidates recommended by the election winner, populist Andrej Babiš, and Pavel will take place this week. Turek is not the only ministerial candidate who is under increased attention. Babiš’s own appointment as prime minister has also raised concerns, especially regarding a possible conflict of interest. The election winners own the agricultural giant Agrofert, and Czech law prohibits officials from owning or managing companies that could create a conflict of interest with their legislative function.
Pavel said he was ready to confirm Babis in office within a week if he could explain how he would avoid the conflict of interest. So far, the prime minister-designate has not come up with a solution, but has said that selling the company is not up for discussion.
Read also: Czech government talks stall; potential Foreign Minister accused of racist remarks