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.