Mr. Prime Minister, are you sure that President Zeman will dismiss Minister Prymula and accept your new candidate?
I can’t be sure, but when I spoke before the meeting with the president, he told me that he said the exchange was not entirely appropriate, but that he accepted my decision. When I went to see him in Lány, we didn’t talk about it anymore, I just handed over to the President a proposal to dismiss Mr. Prymula and a CV of the new candidate.
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The proposed candidate will visit the President on Tuesday, I think he is a very good doctor who has a very rich managerial and international experience. I am convinced that the President will like it. I’d like to take him on Thursday.
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That candidate is the hematologist and deputy director of the University Hospital in Brno, Jan Blatný, who came to the Office of the Government yesterday?
You know I won’t tell you. If I can, I want to give him a quiet weekend and a quiet Monday before all the journalists pounce on him and media hell begins. The only thing I will tell you is that he is not an epidemiologist and that he is known mainly in professional circles, but not so much in public.
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What do you think about Wednesday’s meeting of Prymula with the head of your club Faltýnek in a closed restaurant?
Of course it shocked me, I don’t understand how this can be done. We need to lead by example, and in particular the Minister of Health, who has repeatedly called on people to follow the rules, and then will he do this? It was a big mistake, especially at a time when our front-line doctors and nurses are struggling with this pandemic and are doing everything to save lives. I would like to thank them again.
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At a time when we are fighting for the trust of our citizens and calling for people to follow the rules, we must lead by example. Unfortunately, such a step cannot be excused. And in any case, the restaurant violated government regulations, for which it should be significantly penalized.
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Prymula and Faltýnek don’t see anything strange at a meeting in a restaurant, but does it seem as if they were plotting?
I think that ministers should not meet outside official premises, such as the office or the House. I asked about it, I was told that the head of the Havrlant hospital in Olomouc was also present and that, for example, the arrival of American doctors and other things were being addressed.
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Do you believe that?
I believe I do not believe. It’s not up to me to judge. In short, it was a mistake that came at the most inopportune time. How can people trust us when the Minister of Health says something and does something else?
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Do you want to continue working with Prymula?
Yes, because he is an expert and an epidemiologist. He helped us manage the first wave very well, so it would certainly be good for him to remain in the expert team of the Ministry of Health.
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This is not Faltýnek’s first excess, do you still trust him?
Mr Faltynek visited me, resigned from the position of the first vice-president of the movement, and as far as the head of our club is concerned, the deputies must decide on this for YES.
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