Government formation
Czech Republic: Babis does not want to block the transfer of power
Andrej Babis, Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, seems to have come to terms with his defeat. Photo: Petr David Josek / AP / dpa
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A week after the parliamentary elections in the Czech Republic, Prime Minister Andrej Babis seems to have come to terms with his defeat. The country needs a functioning government, he said.
A week after the parliamentary elections in the Czech Republic, Prime Minister Andrej Babis seems to have come to terms with his defeat.
“We hand over (the official business) to the new coalition and will be in the opposition,” said the founder of the populist party ANO on Friday on the radio station Frekvence 1. The country needs a functioning government. “I don’t know why we should take a blockade stance in this situation,” said the 67-year-old multi-billionaire. As an opposition, his party will act “hard but correctly”.
The decision as to who receives the mandate to form a government ultimately rests with President Milos Zeman. But the 77-year-old is still being treated in the intensive care unit of a hospital. Nothing specific is known about his state of health. Zeman is considered a close ally of Babis.
The newly elected House of Representatives will meet for the first time on November 8th. After the elections on October 8th and 9th, two liberal-conservative opposition alliances came together to a clear majority of 108 of the 200 seats. The Babis ANO movement received 72 seats, making it the strongest single party. Until recently, Babis therefore considered it possible to obtain the government mandate himself.