Czech Culture Minister Klempíř Works Without Advisers — a First in a Decade

Czech Culture Minister Josef Klempíř (Motorists party) says he does not employ paid external advisers — the first time in a decade that a head of this ministry has gone without such a team. He revealed this in a written statement.

"Every minister organizes their work differently. I don't have advisers. In my work, I rely on the professional expertise of the ministry's specialized departments," Klempíř wrote. According to him, much of the agenda is handled with the help of his deputies: Adam Kocián (an unsuccessful Motorists candidate for parliament in the Liberec Region), Kateřina Pešatová (former head of the culture department in the Central Bohemian Region, nominated by ANO), and Jiří Bubeníček (a dancer and choreographer, nominated by SPD).

The minister stressed that he regularly meets with professional organizations, cultural institutions, trade unions, employers' representatives, and other figures in the cultural sector, and therefore sees no need to create additional paid positions for outside consultants.

Charles University political scientist Michal Malý notes that every ministry needs experts, but what matters is whether they are genuine specialists. In the past, he says, ministers frequently hired party colleagues as advisers rather than actual professionals.

In Malý's view, the situation surrounding the Motorists party is telling: "If you look at the people connected to this party, or those chosen as advisers by its leader and foreign minister Petr Macinka, they are often long-time friends and colleagues from the Václav Klaus Institute. It's a young party with few people to draw on. And even where there are some, they're not people particularly interested in culture," the political scientist said.

Every ministry is required to publish, twice a year, a list of advisers and consulting firms providing it with consulting and other external services — including audits, consultations, and expert assessments.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz