Minister Staněk resigns, the ČSSD will announce his successor at the end of May

Prague – Minister of Culture Antonín Staněk (CSSD) will resign from his position by the end of May. He has held the position for less than a year. In a letter to Prime Minister Andrej Babiš (ANO), he wrote that he decided to comply with the request of CSSD chairman Jan Hamáček, but he stands by his decisions in office. Hamáček stated that he would announce the name of Staněk's successor at the end of May. In recent weeks, Staněk has been under pressure due to the dismissal of directors of the National Gallery in Prague (NGP) and the Museum of Art in Olomouc (MUO). Babiš believes that Staněk's departure will calm the situation. According to the opposition, the resignation is proof of the managerial failure of the ANO and CSSD government.

President Miloš Zeman, who accepts ministerial resignations, will meet with Hamáček on Thursday, May 23, and with Staněk on Tuesday, May 28, announced the president's spokesman Jiří Ovčáček without further details. Babiš will hand Staněk's resignation to Zeman once he receives the information officially, he told Czech Television (ČT). He learned about the minister's decision in advance through a text message from Hamáček, he added. "Minister of Culture Antonín Staněk informed me in advance of his intention to resign from his position as a member of the government by the end of this month. I respect his decision and thank him for his work and dedication at the ministry," said Hamáček.

There has been speculation about Staněk's possible departure for a long time; in the eyes of the cultural public, his decision to dismiss NGP director Jiří Fajt and MUO director Michal Soukup particularly harmed him. "I am determined to prove that the attacks aimed at me were only part of a slanderous campaign regardless of the actual state of affairs," Staněk stated in his letter to Babiš. Regarding his decisions as a minister, he wrote that they are in line with his best knowledge and conscience.

In the letter, Staněk also stated that he relieved civil servants of the ministry who prepared public administration audits in the NGP and MUO from their obligations of silence and is submitting their findings for public assessment. Staněk dismissed Fajt and Soukup in mid-April, justifying it with their shortcomings in management identified by ministerial inspections in these two institutions.

Several petitions, open letters, and the opposition have called for Staněk's resignation. The initiators of a petition signed by over 7,000 people, including many prominent figures from cultural and public life, view the resignation as a success. "But the battle is not won; it depends on the new minister to ensure that further necessary steps towards conducting quality selection procedures for both positions (directors of NGP and MUO) follow," said one of the petition spokespeople, architect Josef Pleskot. Representatives of MUO see Staněk's departure as a form of satisfaction. According to Fajt, Staněk undermined the NGP, and he perceives the reasons for his dismissal as false accusations and slander. Fajt is preparing legal actions against the outgoing minister, he told ČT.

Staněk's departure will mean the seventh change in Babiš's government. Opposition politicians welcome the resignation, stating it is a consequence of the minister's incompetence and proof of the managerial failure of the minority government of the ANO movement and CSSD. Babiš and Hamáček also bear responsibility; it is another managerial mistake by this government, reacted ODS chairman Petr Fiala. According to STAN vice-chairman Jan Farský, it will be hard to find anything that the outgoing minister has done well in office. "This is how Babiš's government of 'experts' functions in practice," said TOP 09 chairman Jiří Pospíšil.