On 14 February 2022, the Assembly of the Pilsen Region dismissed the Council of the Pilsen Region and then elected its new representatives. Rudolf Špoták (Czech Pirate Party) became the new President. The Assembly discussed beforehand all the items prepared for this session. It approved the provision of repayable financial assistance totalling CZK 200 million to beneficiaries who had applied for it under the “Programme for the provision of repayable financial assistance to ensure the provision of social services in 2022”.
The new President Rudolf Špoták was elected after the dismissal of all members of the Council of the Pilsen Region and after members of the ODS and TOP 09 assembly clubs left the meeting. A total of 32 members of the Assembly voted in favour of Rudolf Špoták, none voted against and two abstained. The new President thanked the present Assembly members for their trust. “I take it as a vote of confidence from the ANO and Independents, STAN and Pirates clubs that I have been elected. It is confidence in future cooperation,” said Rudolf Špoták. After the meeting of these assembly clubs, a vote was taken on new members of the Council of the Pilsen Region and on changes in the Assembly Committees.
Newly elected members of the Council of the Pilsen Region:
Rudolf Špoták, President of the Region
Petr Vanka (ANO + Independents), Vice President
Roman Zarzycký (ANO + Independents), Vice President
Martin Záhoř (ANO + Independents), Vice President
Pavel Čížek (STAN, Zelení, PRO Plzeň/Mayors and Independents+Green Party+FOR PILSEN), Vice President
Josef Bernard (STAN, Zelení, PRO Plzeň/Mayors and Independents+Green Party+FOR PILSEN), Vice President
Pavel Hais (Czech Pirate Party), Vice President
Vladimír Kroc (ANO + Indepents), Regional Council Member
Libor Picka (STAN, Zelení, PRO Plzeň/Mayors and Independents+Green Party+FOR PILSEN), Regional Council Member
Petr Vanka became the Statutory Vice President, who represents the President of the Region in his absence.
Before the dismissal of the Council, the President of the Pilsen Region Ilona Mauritzová evaluated her work for the Pilsen Region and thanked her colleagues, the members of the Assembly and the management of the regional hospitals with the following words: “I would like to thank you across the political parties, all Pilsen Region Assembly members, my former coalition partners and I must say that it was an honour for me to work especially with some of them. It has been a very challenging year for me and I have worked with all my might. It has not been an easy time for me. I would like to say that we have stood up very well as a Pilsen Region in the times of Covid-19. We are one of the leading regions that have not only managed to supress Covid-19, but also to build vaccination centres, testing sites, mobile vaccination teams and vaccinate over 75 % of the population of our region. Alongside this, we have also worked on the improvement of the management of our hospitals. During this year and a quarter, we have reduced the loss of our hospitals to 153 million CZK compared to 2019 when the loss was 276 million. I have done my best to reduce the loss. The management of the hospitals in the Pilsen Region deserves a big thank you for the way in which our hospitals have been managed. I wish the Pilsen Region to develop, to have as many successful projects as possible and to be able to do what we have done in the health sector and in other areas.”