PRAGUE – Czech interim prime minister Jan Fischer is among candidates to join the European Commission, Czech media reported yesterday.
Mr Fischer’s departure to the EU would probably lead to the appointment of a new interim prime minister who would take the central European country, facing a deep economic drop this year, to an election due in May next year.
The online edition of mainstream daily Mlada fronta Dnes reported that heads of the two biggest parties, the right-wing Civic Democrats and leftist Social Democrats, had discussed his nomination. A Civic Democrat spokesman, Martin Kupka, did not confirm or deny the report, but said: “At this point this is speculation. It will not be clear until Monday. Nothing is definitive.”
Mr Fischer’s spokesman was not immediately available for comment. A spokeswoman for the Social Democrats said she was not aware of his possible nomination.
News website www.aktualne.cz quoted the head of the Green Party, Ondrej Liska, as saying Mr Fischer’s name had come up in negotiations but he did not believe the prime minister would take the EU job given his task to lead the country towards the election.
The non-partisan cabinet, which has the right to nominate the commissioner, is due to discuss the issue on Monday.
Several names have been mentioned, but political parties have not reached agreement. Mr Fischer has said he will pick his own candidate if the parties do not find common ground.
European Commission president José Manuel Barroso will put together his team of commissioners from all the EU member states in the coming weeks.
Mr Fischer took over after a centre-right minority cabinet lost a no-confidence vote in March.
He was due to quit after an early election last month, but stayed on after plans to hold the vote were struck down by the country’s constitutional court. – (Reuters)