Marian Jurečka, the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs from KDU-ČSL, has managed to keep his position despite the recent controversy surrounding a party held at his department and poor communication during a shooting at Charles University’s Faculty of Philosophy. The National Committee of the Christian Democratic Union – Czechoslovak People’s Party (KDU-ČSL) supported him in a meeting held on Tuesday evening. Jurečka had been considering resignation in light of the events.
The National Committee of KDU-ČSL, respecting the work done by Marian Jurečka, decided not to make any personnel changes in the government or the party leadership,” read a part of the resolution passed in the meeting. Further, this matter was decided through a secret ballot, with 25 out of 30 committee members supporting Jurečka.
In a press conference, Jurečka admitted that he had offered both his position as the leader of KDU-ČSL and as the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs during the committee meeting. He also clarified the information regarding the party and his poor communication about the criticized event. Jurečka publicly apologized again for the incident.
The National Party committee passed a resolution with four points. Besides those above, it was also stated that Jurečka made a mistake by not ending the party on time. It also messed up the subsequent communication between the media and the public. The broader leadership of the Christian Democrats also expressed understanding of the adverse reactions of those affected by the events at the Faculty of Philosophy and apologized.
Jurečka said he had offered his resignation to Prime Minister Petr Fiala (ODS), who did not accept it. According to him, he sufficiently explained the case to the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs and apologized for it.