Politics & Economics

Czech PM, Government Formally Resign After Election Defeat

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis and his government have resigned in a formal step required by the Constitution following last month´s parliamentary election. Babis said Thursday he sent the resignation letter to President Milos Zeman. The head of state is expected to ask Babis to stay in office until a new government is appointed. Babis´ government had to resign after the first session of the new lower house of Parliament was over, which happened on Wednesday. A three-party, liberal-conservative coalition known as Together won the Oct 8-9 election with a 27.8% share of the vote. Together teamed up with a center-left liberal coalition made up of the Pirate Party and a group of mayors and independent candidates, which came in third place with 15.6% of votes. The new partnership will hold 108 seats in the 200-seat lower house of Parliament, relegating Babis, a populist billionaire, and his centrist ANO (YES) movement to the opposition. Zeman has already asked Petr Fiala, the candidate of the winning coalition, to form a new government. The five parties of the coalition signed a deal this week to rule together. It´s not immediately clear when the president, who is currently hospitalized, will swear in the...

by Prague Morning Nov 11, 2021

Czech Prosecutors Want Immunity for PM Babis to be Lifted

Czech prosecutors on Wednesday asked the newly-elected lower house of Parliament to lift Prime Minister Andrej Babis’s immunity from prosecution over alleged fraud involving European Union subsidies. If the lawmakers give their approval, it would allow the prosecution to decide whether Babis should be indicted for his alleged involvement in the $2-million fraud. Czech police have repeatedly recommended Babis should be indicted. Prague’s prosecution office announced the move on Wednesday. The request came immediately after the new house convened this week for the first time following October’s election. It wasn’t immediately clear when the prosecution might finish its evaluation of the case. The allegations involve a farm that received EU subsidies after its ownership was transferred from the Babis-owned Agrofert conglomerate of around 250 companies to Babis´ family members. The subsidies were meant for medium-size and small businesses and Agrofert wouldn´t have been eligible for them. Later, Agrofert again took ownership of the farm. Babis denies any wrongdoing, saying the allegations were politically motivated. His political ANO (YES) movement was defeated in the election. A coalition of five parties have signed to deal to rule together this week. Babis, who has to resign after the first parliamentary session is over,...

by Prague Morning Nov 10, 2021

Czech Senate Calls to Investigate Hamas for Crimes Against Humanity

127 members of the Czech Senate signed a petition that was presented on Monday to the Knesset calling for Hamas to be investigated for crimes against humanity for rocket fire towards Israel during Guardian of the Walls. “We call on the Czech government to contact the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, inform him of these crimes and ask him to consider the prosecution of those responsible for the rocket fire,” the document said. Speaker of the Knesset Miki Levy stated that “the State of Israel and the Jewish people are grateful to the Czech Republic and the Czech people. You have stood by our side during the most difficult hours since the establishment of the state, we will never forget your contribution to strengthening Israel’s security and we will always stand by you.” Operation Guardian of the Walls was an Israeli military operation against the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip which was initiated on 10 May 2021 in retaliation for Hamas’ firing of 200 rockets at Israel from 9 to 10 May 2021, in turn motivated by the IDF’s storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem amid a wave of protests against the eviction of Palestinians from Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood. On the night of 10 May, Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu promised that the Israeli Air...

by Prague Morning Nov 09, 2021

SPOLU and PirSTAN Sign Coalition Deal on New Czech Government

The two opposition coalitions running in the Czech parliamentary elections held a month ago signed an agreement on forming a new government headed by Civic Democrat leader Petr Fiala. The new coalition government of SPOLU (Civic Democrats, Christian Democrats and TOP09), and the Pirate party and Mayors and Independents will be composed of 18 ministers, including three new posts for legislation, research and innovation, and EU affairs. SPOLU will be in charge of finance, defence, labour and social affairs, transportation, health, justice, agriculture, environment, culture, and the new research and innovation post. The Pirates and Mayors will run the ministries of interior, trade and industry, education, regional development and digitization, foreign affairs, and the posts for legislation and EU affairs. The outgoing Prime Minister Andrej Babis has criticized the new cabinet for adding new ministerial posts which he said would increase costs and burden the state budget. Regarding the Minister for European Affairs, Fiala, a former university rector, said that the new minister should not only be preparing the Czech presidency of the EU, which starts on July 1, 2022, but he should also better coordinate European policy “so that the Czech Republic can take advantage of its membership in the EU and better promote...

by Prague Morning Nov 08, 2021

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Czech government Approves Minimum Monthly Wage Rise to 16,200 CZK

The Czech government has approved a rise in the minimum gross monthly wage by 1,000 CZK to 16,200 CZK from January, said Deputy Prime Minister Karel Havlicek. The minimum wage is paid to about 150,000 of the country’s four million employees, but it is also used as a benchmark to determine higher wages in a number of professions. The average monthly gross wage was 38,275 CZK in the second quarter. Minister of Finance Alena Schillerová (for ANO) in September had ruled out increasing the minimum wage to 18,000 crowns a month, as proposed by the Social Democrats, the junior party in the governing coalition. The lowest levels of guaranteed wages The minimum wage determines the growth of the lowest levels of the guaranteed wage. The lowest levels of guaranteed wages apply to employees whose wages are not agreed in collective agreements and to employees in public services and administration and set the lowest price of labour in stages according to its complexity, responsibility and effort. For these purposes, the works are classified into 8 groups and for each of them, the relevant lowest level of guaranteed wages in hourly and monthly terms is determined. The following amounts apply for a...

by Prague Morning Nov 05, 2021

Official: President Zeman to Appoint Petr Fiala as New Prime Minister

In an interview with Radio Frekvence 1 on Friday, President Miloš Zeman confirmed that he will appoint Petr Fiala (ODS) as Prime Minister. According to him, he will do everything to ensure that a new government is formed as soon as possible. Mr. Zeman was moved from an intensive care unit after more than three weeks of treatment to a standard hospital room on Thursday after his condition improved. Zeman, 77, was taken to hospital with an unknown condition on October 10, a day after the central European country held an election that his ally Prime Minister Andrej Babis lost to a group of opposition parties. The newly-elected lower house is due to meet on November 8 in a session that will initiate the transfer of power. Once its opening session is concluded, the current government of Prime Minister Andrej Babis will be obliged to resign and the president is due to appoint a new prime minister. The five centrist and center-right parties that won 108 seats on the 200-seat lower house in the election have reached an agreement on forming a new government. The two blocs have agreed that Spolu nominees will serve as the ministers of finance, defense,...

by Prague Morning Nov 05, 2021

“Thank You for Four Years When I Was Prime Minister”, Says Babiš

The outlook for the future is not optimistic, but the Czechs and the Czech Republic have managed to get through much worse periods, stated Prime Minister Andrej Babiš in a speech on the national holiday on Oct. 28. According to him, in the darkest times, the nation has always stuck together. He hopes that the new government will fight for Czech interests. Babiš also again urged people to get vaccinated and thanked them for their trust. Babiš delivered his speech on the day when the president usually speaks at the state decorations ceremony at Prague Castle. This year, the ceremony did not take place due to the hospitalization of Miloš Zeman. According to Babiš, people should wish the president a speedy recovery. “This is exactly the moment when we should tame our potential antipathies and when politics should step aside,” he said. He noted that the pandemic and the post-election situation have exacerbated the atmosphere in society and that developments at home and abroad are not helping either. He mentioned rising energy prices, the poor situation in the car industry, and the rising price of goods. “From the headlines, it would seem that one disaster after another is coming at us. Maybe we got...

by Prague Morning Nov 04, 2021

We Have a Government

Czech centrist and center-right parties reached an agreement on forming a majority coalition government and its key agenda, said the chairman of the strongest party in the forming coalition on Tuesday. The parties, grouped in two coalitions, won the majority of seats in the lower chamber of parliament in the October 8-9 election, beating the current Prime Minister Andrej Babis, whose key allies were ousted from the parliament. “In addition to the position of Prime Minister, the SPOLU coalition will fill the positions of the Ministry of Finance, Defense, Labor and Social Affairs, Transport, Health, Justice, Agriculture, Environment, Culture and the post of Minister of Science, Research and Innovation,” said Petr Fiala said on Tuesday. The PirSTAN coalition will include the Ministry of Interior, Industry, Education, Local development, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the newly defined Minister for Legislation and the Minister for the EU. The candidate for Prime Minister Petr Fiala further informed that he had been contacted by the head of the President’s office, Vratislav Mynář. “He delivered a message for me from President (Miloš) Zeman. He is looking forward to meeting me,” he said. Voter turnout was up to near 65%, compared with 60% at the last...

by Prague Morning Nov 03, 2021

Next Czech Government Will Not Adopt Euro, Main Coalition Party Says

The next Czech government will not adopt the euro, the man tipped to be the finance minister in the new centre-right coalition said on Tuesday. Although the five parties forming coalition are generally in favour of the eventual adoption of the euro, it has not been high on their agenda for the next four-year term. “We have to put our public finance in order, so even if someone wanted (the euro), we don’t have a shot at entering now, because we don’t meet the criteria,” said Zbynek Stanjura of the Civic Democrats (ODS), who looks set for the Finance Ministry role. The Czech fiscal gap is seen by the ministry at 7.7% of gross domestic product this year, more than double the 3% prescribed for a country to join the euro zone. Stanjura saw one more reason for putting the euro off now. “It is our long-time position that we should adopt the euro only when it is favourable for the Czech Republic, which has not been the case so far,” Stanjura told reporters at a televised briefing. The coalition aims to have the government agenda and ministerial jobs distribution settled by Nov.8 when the newly elected lower house of...

by Prague Morning Nov 02, 2021

Taiwanese Delegation in Prague to Boost Ties; China Protests

Taiwanese government ministers were visiting Prague on Monday accompanied by dozens of business and research representatives to boost trade and investment, a move that has angered China. Minister of National Development Kung Ming-hsin is leading a delegation of 66 officials representing business and research groups and organizations, including biotechnology, green energy, information technology, machinery and tourism. Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu will visit later in the week. China has protested, threatening unspecified retaliatory steps. Taiwan relies on such exchanges to counter China´s efforts to isolate the self-governing island that Beijing claims as its own territory, to be annexed by military force if it deems necessary. The Czech Republic, like most countries, has no formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, but maintains robust informal contacts. Taiwan´s high-tech companies are also significant investors in the Czech Republic. The ties between Prague and Taipei were boosted by last year´s trip to Taiwan by the speaker of the Czech parliament´s upper house, the Senate, Milos Vystrcil. He was accompanied by more than 80 representatives from government, business and academia, drawing strong criticism from China. Vystrcil and other senior officials in the Senate, together with representatives of government business and tourist agencies and business groups, are...

by Prague Morning Oct 25, 2021

The Future Czech Government Wants to Return to Václav Havel’s Values

Everything is pointing to the establishment of a fourth center-right government in the Visegrad Group following the recent parliamentary elections in the Czech Republic. The SPOLU coalition received the most votes and is comprised of the right-wing Civic Democratic Party (ODS), the Christian Democrat-People’s Party union KDU-CSL, and the liberal-conservative TOP 09. Even though a new government has not yet been formed, and the coalition agreement between SPOLU and the second election block (PirSTAN) has not yet been signed, the future ruling camp is being put under constant pressure by the liberal-left environments and media. They are demanding one thing: that Petr Fiala’s government decisively cut themselves away from Poland and Hungary’s policies and even distance themselves from the V4, separate itself from Andrej Babis’ legacy (and therefore cease referring to the concept of national interest in foreign policy), and change its approach towards the EU’s migration policy. According to Ondřej Kolář from TOP 09, the Czech Republic will seek to implement a foreign policy based on Vaclav Havel’s values, accentuating human rights and civil society, and active membership in the EU and NATO. There are plans to revise relations with Russia and China. Similar opinions can even be heard...

by Prague Morning Oct 23, 2021

Czech Lower House to Vote on Lifting Babis’ Immunity for EU Fraud Prosecution

Czech acting Supreme Public Prosecutor Jaroslav Šaroch will ask the lower house of parliament to lift the immunity from prosecution of Prime Minister Andrej Babis (ANO) so he can be tried in the Stork’s Nest case, where he is alleged to have committed fraud with EU subsidies. This vote will take place after the constituent session of the new Chamber of Deputies on November 8, confirmed Ales Cimbala, a spokesperson for the Prague City Prosecutor’s Office, to the Czech News Agency. “The public prosecutor’s office is bound only by the Criminal Procedure Code in its activities, and for that reason it must now respect the fact that one of the accused persons has regained his parliamentary mandate and the immunity that goes with it. No criminal proceedings can currently be taken against this person,” Cimbala explained. Šaroch was originally supposed to make a decision on the police’s motion to file charges by October 20, but given that Babis regained his seat in the house after the general election with an MP´s immunity, his prosecution is now again suspended. Today’s decision to move to lift Babis’ immunity does not necessarily mean that Saroch agrees that there is now enough evidence to go to...

by Prague Morning Oct 20, 2021

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