Civic Democrats: no discussion of removing John as interior ministry over spying allegations

A spokesman for the Civic Democrats, who lead the Czech government, says the party have not discussed the possibility of removing the leader of the Public Affairs party Radek John from the post of interior minister. The coalition has been shaken by allegations that a security agency linked to Public Affairs minister for transport, Vít Barta, was hired to spy on a Civic Democrat mayor in a district of Prague in 2006. The deputy head of the Civic Democrats told a Czech newspaper on Saturday that Public Affairs could lose control of the Interior Ministry over the matter. However, Civic Democrats spokesman Tomáš Bartovský told reporters that no such change had been discussed. He said it was no coincidence that the matter had blown up two weeks before local and Senate elections, suggesting it was intended to sour relations within the coalition.