Martin Vondrášek, the current first deputy, will become the new police president. He will succeed Jan Švejdar, who resigned officially at the beginning of the year. Interior Minister Vít Rakušan (STAN) announced this at a press conference on Tuesday.
According to Rakušan, Vondrášek is “the best possible choice,” so the ministry decided to close the selection procedure after the tender. The so-called tender process was open only to civil servants in the 11th grade.
Although Vondrášek, who has been with the police since 1993, was the only candidate, he was also assessed by the selection committee, which found no fault with him, according to Rakušan. “The commission stated that he has all the qualifications to perform the function of police president,” the minister said.
The selection of a new police chief had to be made after the current police president, Jan Švejdar, resigned at the turn of the year. He will leave the post on March 31, and Vondrášek will take over the position the following day, on April 1.
Švejdar is retiring
At the briefing, both Rakušan and Vondrášek also thanked outgoing President Švejdar for his work, who is leaving after three years of his original five-year mandate. Švejdar will retire at the end of March.
He said his resignation was prompted by the fact that Minister Rakusan and the entire new government wanted someone other than him as police president, as he said he understood from the minister’s words at a meeting in early December.