Rath gets confidence vote to continue as president of the Czech Medical Chamber

David Rath, aged 37, has been given a vote of confidence to remain the head of the Czech Medical Chamber, after delegates on Friday voted 156 in his favour, 72 against. Dozens of delegates, however, left the conference room while voting was taking place. The complaint: that the conference had been manipulated. A total of 320 delegates attended on the first day. Meanwhile, the chamber's executive committee was also given a vote of confidence earning a three-year mandate. David Rath dismissed accusations the conference had been manipulated. Instead he highlighted successes that had been reached, including the defence of specialist licences that had been challenged by the Chamber's audit commission. Still, Friday saw six hours of difficult deliberations with sharp exchanges of opinion amongst supporters and opponents of the current leadership. The conference continues on Sunday when Health Minister Marie Souckova is expected to attend.