By a unanimous vote, the Committee on Constitutional Affairs of the Czech Senate officially launched, Tuesday, October 19, the procedure to withdraw his powers from the Czech President, Milos Zeman, hospitalized in intensive care since October 10 and whose state of health is kept secret by those around him. “His current condition does not allow him to take up his duties and it is very unlikely that he will be able to resume his duties in a few weeks”, Zdenek Hraba, the chairman of this commission, justified, citing a letter from the central military hospital in Prague, where the 77-year-old head of state is located.
Sent the day before, this letter had the effect of a bomb in this central European country by revealing that the patient Zeman is suffering from a disease not designated for the prognosis “Extremely uncertain” and that he “Is not currently capable of accomplishing any of its official missions”. Since the president was taken urgently to the hospital, semi-conscious, his entourage wanted to be reassuring. Until a few days ago, Mr. Zeman even signed a decree convening Parliament from his hospital bed, in “Making jokes”, according to one of its visitors. This act, contested by the opposition, is now the subject of a police investigation.
Crucial moment
“His entourage hides the truth, like servants who pretend that the king is still in good health to advance their pawn on the chessboard”, denounces opposition senator Pavel Fischer, chairman of the foreign affairs committee, in favor of the suspension procedure. Mr Zeman’s hospitalization indeed comes at a crucial time in Czech political life. If the office of president is usually secondary in the local political system, this notorious pro-Russian and Eurosceptic must appoint a new prime minister following the legislative elections of October 8 and 9 lost by his ally, billionaire Andrej Babis.
However, if it succeeds, this procedure, never used since 1989, provides for the President of the Chamber of Deputies to recover for an indefinite period the power to appoint the new Prime Minister. The pro-European right-wing and center opposition, which won the majority of the seats in the legislative elections, should logically seize this post in the new assembly which will take office on November 8.
Therefore, Petr Fiala, the leader of the Civic Democratic Party (ODS, conservative) at the top, could take advantage of a “suspension” of the president to be immediately appointed prime minister, without fear of last minute maneuver by Mr. Zeman in favor of Mr. Babis – who has long refused to acknowledge his defeat. Already controlled by the opposition, the Senate has precisely planned to vote the suspension of the president in plenary on November 5, just before the formation of the new chamber of deputies.
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