Foreign Minister Jan Kohout will not run in May’s general elections

The Czech foreign minister, Jan Kohout, is not going to run in the general elections scheduled for May. Mr Kohout, who was expected to top the Social Democrat ballot in the Plzeň region, was rejected by the party’s regional organization, against the wishes of the party leadership. The news comes a day after the Social Democrats announced that Interior Minister Martin Pecina will head their ballot in Prague. The move provoked an outcry from the right-wing Civic Democrats, who said this breached an earlier agreement between the two parties about the support for the caretaker government. Prime Minister Jan Fischer reacted by saying that he would not prevent any member of his government to run in the elections; Mr Fischer said however he would make sure his ministers would keep campaigning out of their agenda.