Czech President Petr Pavel on Monday hinted he would appoint Andrej Babiš as prime minister after the tycoon’s right-wing populist ANO party won last weekend’s parliamentary elections.
“What is clear from the first statements is that there is an interest in forming a coalition government of three parties — ANO, SPD and the Motorists. The exact composition and personnel are still being negotiated, but it seems that a government could be formed on this basis,” Pavel told journalists at a press briefing.
The far-right Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) and right-wing Motorists for Themselves are the only parties that have not ruled out cooperating with ANO, which won the elections with nearly 35 percent of the vote. Together those parties would total 108 lawmakers, enough to secure a majority in the 200-seat lower parliament chamber.
Babiš had aimed to form a single-party minority government propped up by the tacit support of the two parties, but that goal appears difficult to attain as both the Motorists and SPD say they want to participate directly in ruling.
In Czechia, the president has a kingmaker role in deciding who will be tasked with forming the government, choosing the leader most likely to secure a majority. However, the election winner usually gets the first chance. Once the government is established, the president appoints the prime minister and ministers, but the Cabinet must still win a vote of confidence in the lower chamber.
Pavel previously said he is consulting lawyers on the question of whether to block Babiš over the potential conflict of interest posed by the tycoon’s large agriculture empire, Agrofert.
On Sunday, Babiš presented the president with options as to how he will resolve the issue, all of which “are ways to comply with the law,” Pavel said.
Now Babiš can breathe a sigh of relief, with Pavel hinting he would approve his appointment as long as he can form a government.
“Once the parties forming the government reach an agreement on their program overlaps and on the personnel appointments, then — if there is such a will — there will be no reason to delay, and it will be possible to task the election with government formation,” Pavel said.
Pavel also urged the incoming government to retain the Prague-led ammunition initiative for Ukraine, which has delivered millions of rounds to Kyiv, but ANO pledged during the election campaign to cancel it due to an alleged lack of transparency, suggesting NATO should run the scheme instead.
“This is primarily about our credibility — both in relation to occupied Ukraine, which depends on our ammunition supplies, and with our partners in the EU. Ending it would harm our standing not only with our partners but also in Ukraine, where it would lead to many more deaths,” Pavel said of the ammo scheme.
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