Mayors and Independents Party has found replacement for Petr Gazdik

The Mayors and Independents Party has found a replacement for Education Minister Petr Gazdik, who resigned from his post over his contacts with lobbyist Michal Redl, a shady businessman at the center of a huge corruption scandal linked to Prague City Transport. Party spokeswoman Sára Beránková told journalists the party leadership would meet to approve the choice on Friday evening, before presenting their candidate to the Cabinet. Prime Minister Petr Fiala is to meet with President Zeman to inform him about the change-of-guard on Monday. The prime minister wants the matter settled swiftly so that the cabinet’s line up is complete when the country takes over the rotating EU presidency on July 1. The candidate’s name has not been revealed to the press.