On 26 October 2013, Chovanec attended a private meeting of ČSSD politicians attempting to exclude
Bohuslav Sobotka from the party leadership election. Chovanec was the first to publicly admit the meeting, and retained his place in the party leadership, despite offering his resignation to Sobotka. In January 2014, Chovanec was nominated as Minister of the Interior for ČSSD in the
Cabinet of Bohuslav Sobotka. President Zeman questioned Chovanec's competence to lead the department over alleged irregularities in his university qualifications, but Sobotka insisted on the nomination, arguing that Chovanec had already explained the matter sufficiently. On 26 January 2014, Chovanec resigned as governor of the Plzeň region and was replaced by Václav Šlajs. The following month, on 17 February, Chovanec also resigned as an ordinary representative of the region. At the end of 2014, Chovanec ran successfully to become vice-chair of ČSSD, defeating
Jeroným Tejc in the second round of the election with 253 votes. In 2015, during the
European migration crisis, Chovanec represented the Czech government in negotiations on refugee quotas, refusing to accept mandatory quotas. ==Personal life==