Lower house speaker steps down over dubious loan

The speaker of the Czech Parliament’s lower house, Social Democrat Miloslav Vlček, stepped down on Thursday over breaching money laundering laws. Mr Vlček admitted he had returned a 1.1 million crown loan to his assistant in 2005 in cash which was illegal as Czech legislation only permits bank transfers of financial sums higher than 500,000 crowns. He came under pressure of his own party that convened on Thursday an extraordinary session of the party leadership. Miloslav Vlček also stepped down as MP and the leader of the Social Democrat ballot in the Olomouc region for May’s general election.