Christian Democrat nominee for environment minister to serve as deputy for time being

The Christian Democratic Party has criticized President Miloš Zeman's refusal to appoint their nominee Petr Hladík to the post of environment minister as “unconstitutional”. The party leadership, which met on Friday to decide how to resolve the situation said it would abide by its decision and not appoint a different nominee in view of the fact that the president’s term in office ends in March. Deputy Prime Minister and Christian Democratic Party leader Marian Jurečka said he intended to appoint Hladík deputy environment minister in the coming days and get him actively involved in the ministry’s management, until there was a new president in office.