Czechia’s likely next prime minister, populist Andrej Babiš, on Monday signed a coalition agreement with the far-right Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) and right-wing Motorists for Themselves (Motoristé sobě) parties. The coalition will hold 108 out of 200 seats in parliament’s lower house. ANO holds 80 seats, with SPD on 15 and the Motorists on 13.
Babiš is a billionaire agricultural tycoon whose success in recent parliamentary elections has sparked fear in Brussels, and among his opponents, over antiestablishment alliances he could form at European level.And despite domestic concerns the mogul might have a potential business conflict of interest, Czech President Petr Pavel tapped Babiš to form the government last week — a step toward being officially nominated as prime minister-designate.Babiš and his right-wing populist ANO movement are likely the least radical party in the future government, which looks set to scale back support for the EU’s migration and climate initiatives like ETS2, the emissions trading system, and fight against Brussels’ bid to ban combustion engines.Following the Czech election in early October, the car-centric Motorists came under the political spotlight after their prospective foreign minister, Filip Turek, was embroiled in a scandal over alleged racist, sexist and homophobic comments posted on his Facebook account before he entered politics. Turek denied being behind the posts in a video posted on Facebook. Babiš’ potential environment minister and chairman of the Motorists, Petr Macinka, also sparked a backlash after he downplayed the human impact on climate change by claiming it is “pure propaganda.”Once a coalition of at least 101 seats in the Chamber of Deputies is established in Prague, the president appoints the prime minister and other ministers proposed by the prime minister, but the government must still win a vote of confidence among lawmakers within 30 days.
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