President accepts Dusík’s resignation as environment minister

President Václav Klaus has accepted Environment Minister Jan Dusík’s resignation from the government, following developments on Thursday regarding the future of Czech energy giant ČEZ’s coal-burning power plant in Pruneřov. The environment minister decided to step down after Prime Minister Jan Fischer told him to allow the producer to go ahead with the project, despite findings in an environment impact assessment study at the ministry that showed ČEZ was not going to use the best available technology. Mr Dusík was nominated to the caretaker government by the Green Party and on Friday its leader Ondřej Liška made clear the Greens still feel responsible for work conducted by the ministry. A meeting between the Greens’ chairman and the prime minister is being planned.