Liška elected chairman of Green Party at conference in Brno

Ondřej Liška has been elected chairman of the Green Party. Mr Liška, who had been acting chair since the resignation earlier this year of Martin Bursík, received the votes of around two thirds of delegates at a party congress in the Moravian city of Brno. The Greens’ new leader said he had been given a strong mandate. Mr Liška said the party, which has been riven by internal divisions, now had to work together. He said he would offer both his left and right hands to the supporters of the two candidates he defeated in Saturday’s vote. Ondřej Liška, who is 32, was education minister from December 2007 to May of this year.