Deputy-Premier Jan Hamáček was re-elected as the leader of the Social Democrats on Friday, on the opening day of the party’s conference. Mr. Hamáček received 170 of the total 240 votes, beating his challengers Tomáš Petříček and Kateřina Valachová. Having reaserted confidence in his leadership, Mr. Hamáček promised to get his party into the lower-house of Parliament in the upcoming elections and told members of the conference that the Social Democrats have much work to do in the six months running up to the October election.
MP Roman Onderka was re-elected as first deputy chairman. Mayor Jana Váhalová, former Regional Governor Jiří Běhounek, Labour Minister Jana Maláčová and party district leader Jan Tvrdý, were elected as further deputy chairmen.
Unemployment in the Czech Republic fell by 0.1 percentage points in March compared to the previous month. Almost 306,616 jobseekers were registered in employment offices, which corresponds to an unemployment rate of 4.2 percent.
That is the second-lowest rate in the European Union, Labour Minister Jana Maláčová (Social Democrats) noted via Twitter on Wednesday. The result is due to the antivirus funding programme, which provides companies funds and incentives to discourage layoffs, and an active jobs policy, she said.