Czech President to Name Babiš PM for Second Time

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš will be appointed government head again on June 6, he said on Thursday. The statement followed his meeting with President Zeman, Reuters reports.

The ANO party won the most votes but feel short of a majority. It has so far failed to find majority support because most parties refuse to join a cabinet led by Babiš, who faces criminal charges of abusing EU subsidies a decade ago.

ANO has struck a preliminary deal to form a new government coalition with the center-left Social Democrats, but that still requires approval by Social Democrat party members in a referendum running until June 14.

Babiš said he and Zeman discussed various options and names, and he did not want to comment on this because it is still not clear. He said they will certainly wait for the outcome of the referendum of CSSD.

Babiš said he presumed that after being appointed, he would be given a deadline to a form a new cabinet. He said his government might ask the Chamber of Deputies for confidence in the week after July 10.

Author: red