News

The outgoing Czech interim government on Wednesday approved a civil service bill which overhauls the rules for the employment of public officials, Prime Minister Jiří Rusnok said. If passed by Parliament, the legislation will protect officials from the influence of elected politicians. Under the bill, government ministers would be exempt from legislation preventing former collaborators of the communist secret police, StB, from holding high public posts. It will also establish the position of the director general of public administration who will be appointed by the president. The introduction of the civil service act would cost the state budget around six billion crowns, according to the government.

The passing of the bill in a first round of debate in the lower house is a condition set by President Miloš Zeman for appointing ANO leader Andrej Babiš finance minister; Mr Babiš faces allegations he worked for the StB in the 1980s. MPs are set to discuss the legislation next week.

The Social Democrats are looking for a new candidate for labour and social affairs minister after their nominee for the post, Petr Krčál withdrew over family reasons. Party leaders met on Wednesday to discuss the nominations; deputy party chair Lubomír Zaorálek told reporters after the meeting that most candidates for the post are women. The news agency ČTK reported that Zlín regional councillor Taťána Valentová Nersesjan, former central Bohemian councillor Zuzana Jentschke Stöcklová and the party’s human rights and family policy expert Michaela Marksová Tominová were among the candidates.

The Czech Office for the Protection of Competition has for the second time halted a 4.6-billion crown tender by the Interior Ministry for telecommunications services for public administration, a spokesman for the office said on Wednesday. The anti-monopoly agency is acting on the basis of complaints filed by two of the ministry’s current suppliers, T-Systems Czech Republic and GTS Czech which objected to the conditions of the tender. The anti-monopoly agency also halted the tender last July, forcing the ministry to change the tender’s conditions.

According to a new study, thousands of pieces of unexploded ordnance is scattered across hundreds of hectares in the Šumava National Park, its director Jiří Mánek told the Czech News Agency. The ammunition dates from the period prior to 1989 when the Czechoslovak Army used the area for exercises. Mr. Mánek said there were plans to reclaim the area with a view to introducing bison to the national park in the future.