Dienstbier ousted as Social Democratic deputy chairman

Former presidential candidate Jiří Dienstbier lost his post as deputy chairman of the Social Democratic Party to the governor of the Plzeň region, Milan Chovanec, at the party congress in Ostrava. The vote on Friday night confirmed the other former deputy chairs - Zdeněk Škromach, Lubomír Zaorálek, Martin Starec.

After a second round of voting at the party congress, Alena Gajdůšková was elected as a deputy chairwoman of the party. The Social Democratic Party’s rules party’s rules require that at least one of the deputy chair-people must be a woman. Ms Gajdůšková, who is also the first deputy chairwoman of the opposition-controlled senate, beat out the former deputy chairwoman of the party Marie Benešová.