Czech president appoints his economy adviser as new PM to form government of technocrats
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Czech President Milos Zeman has appointed his economic adviser as the country's new prime minister to form a government of experts, replacing the cabinet of Petr Necas who resigned last week amid a spy and bribery scandal.
Jiri Rusnok, who was appointed Tuesday, served as finance minister in the Social Democratic government led by Zeman in 2001-02 and then continued as industry and trade minister in another government led by the same leftist party. He currently chairs the board of a pension fund.
Rusnok's appointment was opposed by the outgoing coalition, which has approved parliamentary speaker Miroslava Nemcova as its candidate for premier and holds a parliamentary majority.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}His government will have to win a parliamentary confidence vote to rule until elections due in May 2014.