Czech Communist Party Withdraws Support For Coalition Government

Almost six months before parliamentary elections, the Czech minority government of Prime Minister Andrej Babis is threatening to disintegrate after the Communist party rescinded its agreement of tacit consent on Tuesday.

Party leader Vojtech Filip told news agency CTK the Communists had lost trust in the governing partners.

The Communists had demanded concrete plans for the foundation of a state bank, in exchange for continuing to support the government coalition between Babis’ populist party ANO and the Social Democrats.

Although the Communists would not table a motion of no confidence, they were prepared to support one tabled by someone else, he said.

“The Central Committee stated its opinion clearly, 80% of the votes were in favor of ending the support. I do not believe that billions will return to government reserves, nor do I believe anything else,” said Communist deputy Jiří Dolejš. “However, the removal of Communist support will not necessarily lead to the collapse of the government. I see no reason for that, especially at this time when the date of the regular elections has already been announced and we are in the process of creating a new electoral law. The government is to complete those five months,” he added.

Babis told broadcaster CT he did not know what impact this decision would have. “We are prepared to carry through laws also together with other parliamentary parties,” Babis said.

Regular parliamentary elections are scheduled for early October.

For a no-confidence motion to succeed, 101 of the parliament’s 200 members would have to vote in favour. This has only happened once in the history of the Czech Republic, when the conservative government under Mirek Topolanek fell in 2009.