Social Democrats will ask Benešová to leave the party

The Social Democratic party is planning to ask a former deputy chairwoman Marie Benešová to rescind her membership in the party, after she accepted the offer to become justice minister in the new cabinet that Prime Minister Jiří Rusnok is putting together. The Social Democratic chairman Bohuslav Sobotka said that Mrs. Benešová’s decision contradicts the party’s position of not entering Mr. Rusnok’s caretaker government, which has the support of the president but has faced opposition from almost all the parliamentary parties. Mrs. Benešová said that she is not planning to leave the party and that she feels her decision is not problematic.

The government headed by Mr. Rusnok, who was named prime minister by President Zeman on Tuesday, is still coming together but it is unclear if it will remain in office for more than a few months. So far, the other people aside from Marie Benešová who have accepted a ministerial position are Martin Pecina, who will head the Interior Ministry, and the current head of the Federation of the Food and Drink Industries, Miroslav Toman, who will be agriculture minister. It is not clear if any party will vote in favor of the Rusnok cabinet when a confidence vote is held.