The Czech government on Wednesday survived a no-confidence vote triggered by a bitcoin scandal involving a drug dealer that has thrown the country’s politics into turmoil.
Some 98 out of 192 MPs present voted against an opposition motion to topple Prime Minister Petr Fiala’s government — which could have triggered a snap ballot just four months before the country is scheduled to vote in regular elections. By contrast, 94 MPs voted to bring down the government.
The no-confidence motion followed a scandal that saw Czech Justice Minister Pavel Blažek from Fiala’s conservative Civic Democratic Party (ODS) resign last month after accepting a €40 million bitcoin donation to the ministry from a convicted drug dealer.The cryptocurrency was provided by Tomáš Jiřikovský, who according to the courts ran an illegal darknet market that had drugs for sale, and who had served time in prison for embezzlement, drug trafficking and illegal possession of weapons. Czech newspaper Deník N broke the news last week that police are investigating the donation.Blažek, whose embroilment in multiple scandals from pressuring judges to meeting a pro-Russian lobbyist earned him the moniker Don Pablo — a play on deceased Colombian drugs baron Pablo Escobar — claims everything he did was “ultra-legal” and that Jiřikovský had donated money as “a form of penance.”The bitcoin affair is likely to further boost the election prospects of the current populist frontrunner Andrej Babiš, leader of the opposition ANO party, who previously governed Czechia from 2017 to 2021. Recent polling shows ANO leading with 31.2 percent support while the governing Spolu (Together) coalition — of which ODS is a part — trails with 21.6 percent.Babiš has called the ODS “a criminal organization” and termed Fiala “the head of the mafia.”Eva Decroix, who has taken over as the new Czech justice minister, said her task will be to restore public trust in the ministry and to ensure the bitcoin scandal is thoroughly investigated.For the government to be overthrown, at least 101 MPs in the 200-seat lower house of parliament would be required to support the motion. The government has a fragile majority of 104 MPs.
Fiala’s government has survived four votes of no confidence since it took power in 2021.
The post Czech government survives no-confidence vote over bitcoin scandal appeared first on Politico.
