The retiring Helena Langšádlová from TOP 09 will be replaced as Minister for Science and Research by Pavel Tuleja, an economist and vice-rector of the University of Silesia in Opava. He arrived at the TOP 09 club, where the party leadership is to make a final decision on his nomination, before eight in the morning and did not want to be too specific. Only rated the post as interesting.
Minister of Health and Vice-Chairman of TOP 09 Vlastimil Válek called Tuleja an excellent candidate due to his academic experience.
Fifty-three-year-old Tuleja has been working as an academic since the 1990s. From 2015 to last year, he led the University of Silesia as rector. He was also the vice-chairman of the Czech Rectors’ Conference.
His entire career is connected with the Moravian-Silesian region. After all, the native of Ostrava himself repeatedly speaks publicly about his affection for the region.
“In 1999, I moved from Ostrava to Havířov, where I still live today. In addition to these two Moravian-Silesian cities, thanks to my work at the University of Silesia, I also have a close relationship with the statutory cities of Karviná and Opava, where my beloved university is located,” he states in his biography.
The end of Helena Langšádlová
Why does Helena Langšádlová have to quit as Minister for Science and Research? According to the party leadership, she communicated little. More in the article.
Tuleja has been a long-time supporter of TOP 09, dating back to the era of chairman Miroslav Kalouska. In 2017, he ran for the House of Representatives as a non-partisan, but was unsuccessful.
The candidacy for the regional council in 2020 already turned out better – Tuleja became the first substitute and after a few months, after the departure of one of her colleagues, also the representative. At the same time, he is a representative of Havířov.
He became a member of TOP 09 only this year. “He didn’t want to join the party while he was rector. He did not consider a direct connection with a political party appropriate in such a position,” explains the chairman of regional TOP 09, Herbert Pavera, why Tuleja adopted the party’s colors only after many years.
Photo: Facebook TOP 09
Pavel Tuleja in an interview with party leader Markéta Pekarová Adamová.
Enthusiast for innovation
Already as a party member, Tuleja is to run in this year’s regional elections as well – TOP 09 is held by the national coalition Spolu and has a common candidate with the ODS and People’s Party.
Colleagues from the region have respected him since his academic days. “He moved the university forward to a great extent,” thinks, for example, fellow member Lukáš Curylo, Tulej’s colleague from the regional candidate.
Other politicians from the region also describe Tulej’s enthusiasm for news and innovations. Even as rector, he was at the origin of the idea for the research and education park Eden in Karviná, the project of which is currently being prepared. He also participated in the preparation of the Černá kostka – a scientific library in Ostrava, which already has a building permit.
The future minister is dedicated to both theoretical and practical economics. He studied economics at the University of Ostrava, and later obtained a docent in economics.
“From the practical side, I deal with economic problems as the chairman of the board of the registered institute UnikaCentrum, where I have been working since 2016, and from April 2022 also as chairman of the OKD supervisory board,” he writes about himself.
No dry academic
The head of the Pavera regional cell describes his colleague as a sociable and entertaining person. “He has charisma, he is not a dry academic,” Pavera refutes a common prejudice about university officials.
The married father of two sons, Tulej, is also said to be a lover of classical music and likes to read science fiction or fantasy literature.
It is charisma that the new Minister for Science and Research will need. His predecessor Helena Langšádlová quit as minister because she was unable to communicate her work sufficiently. The party promises from Tuleja that he will appear more in the media, promote his department and establish himself more among the other members of the cabinet.
