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The Movement of Elders and Independents proposed the outgoing Karlovy Vary Region Governor Petr Kulhánek for the post of Minister for Local Development. “I was pleasantly surprised at how strong the mandate from the national committee is,” he responded to the movement’s majority support. He added that it is a big commitment, because even government colleagues are putting their hopes in him.
Prime Minister Petr Fiala (ODS) is also satisfied with the 53-year-old candidate, who announced after their joint meeting that he would propose to President Petr Pavlov to appoint Kulhánek. Even before that, the president wants to meet with Kulhánek, and the appointment ceremony should then take place on Tuesday.
The future minister for regional development has years of experience in municipal and regional politics. In 2006, he first became a member of the Karlovy Vary council, and between 2010 and 2018 he led the city from the position of mayor. For the last four years, he held the position of governor of the Karlovy Vary Region. As part of this, he advocated, for example, that the missing air ambulance service be established in the region. The Ministry of Health accepted the regional leadership’s proposal, the government will still have to discuss it.
He doesn’t panic and knows how to negotiate
Kulhánek himself perceives his political activity as an advantage, and recalls his experience with crisis management, which he tried especially during the coronavirus pandemic. This was highlighted in the past by the chairman of the STAN movement and the Minister of the Interior, Vít Rakušan, who is “absolutely convinced of his qualities and abilities”.
Kulhánek himself sees the ability to mediate and seek compromises as his main strengths. “I don’t panic and I think I’m resistant to stress and persistent,” he told Seznam Zpravy. A number of his colleagues from the Karlovy Vary Region also agree with this. They mostly portray Kulhánek as a capable and responsible hard worker who can negotiate with anyone.
“At the Karlovy Vary region council, we said about him that he has nerves of steel. He is an incredibly calm person, especially when it comes to a long negotiation,” says his colleague from the Karlovy Vary Region, Miroslav Balatka (STAN). Kulhánek himself claims that he does not distinguish between the opposition or the coalition and is ready to negotiate with everyone.
“I do not avoid opinion confrontation, argumentation at all. I have the ability to listen to other people’s opinions. After all, something good can often come out of it,” he added.
Who is Petr Kulhánek?
- Petr Kulhánek was born on April 14, 1971 in Karlovy Vary, his father was former senator Vladimír Kulhánek (ODS).
- He is a graduate of the University of Economics in Prague. He already worked at the Promenáda publishing house during his studies, after graduating from the University of Economics he joined the HOPI company. Between 2005 and 2010, he worked as the Secretary General of the World Federation of Journalists and Columnists in the Tourism Industry FIJET.
- He has been active as a municipal politician in Karlovy Vary since 2006, when he first joined the council. In the same year, he was at the birth of the Karlovy Vary Civic Alternative (KOA).
- From 2010 to 2018, Petr Kulhánek was the mayor of Karlovy Vary, in the last four years he served as the governor of the Karlovy Vary region.
- He is married and has two children.
In connection with his work at the Ministry for Regional Development, some also mention Kulhánek’s courage and patience. “I was very surprised that he was going into such a difficult situation. I think he will not be in an easy position, but he really has immense experience from the Karlovy Vary Region. He can really connect the unconnected for many,” describes Michaela Tůmová, chairwoman of the Karlovy Vary Civic Alliance (KOA), which Kulhánek helped to found in 2006. In the same year, he also got into the city council for the first time.
Kulhánek came to national attention during the pandemic, when he was actively dealing with cooperation with Germany regarding the transport of patients. Even then, he quite often defined himself against the comments and attitudes of the then Prime Minister Andrej Babiš (ANO), who claimed that if the region needed help from Germany, he would arrange it.
Kulhánek subsequently responded by saying that he had been asking the Prime Minister and the then Minister of Health for help for a long time. “I’m already a little angry, both at the Minister of Health and at the Prime Minister,” he criticized for iRozhlas the slow pace and indecisiveness of the government in 2021. But in the end, despite the rifts with Babiš, he managed to communicate with the government about the transfer of patients to Germany.
Self-presentation could be a problem
Kulhánek’s fellow party members and colleagues from the past usually speak of him in superlatives. However, the situation is different with his former regional opposition. For example, according to Jana Mračková Vildumetzová (ANO), who should replace him at the head of the Karlovy Vary Region, Petr Kulhánek is not a good choice, even though she herself admits that he is “intelligent and teachable”.
“One year before the elections, action is needed. And that’s really not a word that would define the serving governor. Now that it was raining here and there was no electricity in many places, he was invisible. In the media and on social networks,” described Mračková Vildumetzová, according to whom Kulhánek did not move the region anywhere.
Balatka and Tůmová also perceive that Kulhánek is less visible in public space. But both attribute it to the fact that Kulhánek is modest. “I think his weak point is communication outside. But I think it’s not just about one person, it’s also about the team of people around him. Therefore, I think that we can still work on it and eventually catch up,” added Balatka.
He will go to the regions first
Kulhánek is scheduled to meet with the president next week, and after his appointment, he intends to go to the regions. According to Prime Minister Fiala, three fundamental tasks await the new minister – solving problems in the digitization of construction management, starting the construction of affordable housing and cooperation with regions and municipalities to eliminate flood damage.
“Of course, I need to immediately collect the views of the governors, the affected regions, and also the mayors of the most affected municipalities. So it will take place next week,” he outlined his first steps in office.
