Green Party leader warns against Jiri Cunek’s return to the government

The head of the Green Party and Deputy Prime Minister Martin Bursík has warned the ruling Civic Democrats against accepting Jiří Čunek’s comeback to the government. Mr. Bursík has reacted to the statement of Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek who said that if the Christian Democrats insisted on their leader’s return to the government, he would yield to the pressure. The Green Party leader said he didn’t recommend the Civic Democrats to swap Jiri Cunek’s comeback for the Christian Democrats’ votes for Vaclav Klaus in the upcoming presidential election.

The Christian Democrat chairman Jiri Cunek stepped down as deputy prime minister and minister for local development in November when an investigation into whether he had accepted bribes was reopened. The investigation has been dropped a few weeks later and Mr. Cunek now wants to be reinstated as a member of cabinet.