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SPD leader Tomio Okamura should not be elected Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, said ODS chairman and outgoing Prime Minister Petr Fiala at the start of the debate ahead of Wednesdays secret vote. According to Fiala, Okamura is a symbol of obstruction, spreading pro-Russian narratives. Fiala also spoke about racism, xenophobia, and chauvinism, and he recalled Okamura’s now-suspended prosecution on suspicion of inciting hatred in connection with last year’s pre-election party posters. He expressed support for Okamura’s rival candidate, Jan Bartošek (KDU-ČSL).

During Miloš Zeman’s presidency, the presidential office handled public funds inefficiently and did not act in accordance with legal regulations. A report recently published by the Supreme Audit Office (NKÚ) indicates that the office and its affiliated organizations, among other things, purposefully split contracts and made accounting errors. Law enforcement authorities only gave permission to publish the three-year-old document this October, after prosecutors definitively closed the case involving the presidential office scandals of Chancellor Vratislav Mynář, reported the news site iROZHLAS.cz.

Newly elected members of the Czech Chamber of Deputies are voting on Wednesday to select the speaker and deputy speakers of the lower house. In line with an agreement reached by parties of the emerging coalition Tomio Okamura, leader of the Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) party, is expected to receive backing for the top post. The house plans to appoint four deputy speakers—one each from ANO, the Motorists, the Civic Democrats (ODS), and the Mayors and Independents (STAN).

At the start of the session, lawmakers paid tribute to the late Cardinal Dominik Duka.

Thirteen people have been charged following Monday’s police raid at the headquarters of the General Health Insurance Company (VZP), prosecutor Miloš Klátik told the Czech News Agency. He also stated that VZP is being treated as the injured party in the case. The group is accused of violating competition rules, money laundering, and bribery. The police operation by the National Centre for Organized Crime (NCOZ) focused on IT contracts awarded by VZP.