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 legislative election in 2017.

For the first time since 1920, the Czech parliament won’t have communist delegates after the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSCM) failed to win more than 5% of the vote, the threshold needed to enter parliament.

The country’s oldest political party, the Social Democrats (CSSD), also failed to enter parliament for the first time in its history.