The leadership of the former junior coalition partner Public Affairs has
called on MPs who have joined the new faction around the party’s former
deputy leader, current Deputy Prime Minister Karolína Peake, to resign.
Public Affairs has pointed out that in its ethical codex, under which its
MPs got elected to the lower house of Parliament, the party clearly stated
that MPs were not allowed to change their affiliation during their time in
office. On Thursday, the new faction around Peake announced its name,
LIDEM. Its members will begin collecting the signatures necessary to form a
party on Monday.
Peake had left Public Affairs in mid-April, stating that she disliked the
style in which the former junior coalition partner presented itself. Her
split with the party and the subsequent walk-out of some of its other
members cast serious doubt over the future of the government coalition;
however, it survived a vote of confidence last week.