Tuesday, November 9th, 2021
Zeman awards government contract
Fiala is to succeed Babis in the Czech Republic
An election thriller has come to an end for the Czech Republic: one month after the vote, the populist Prime Minister Babis has to admit defeat. President Zeman gives the leader of the conservative alliance Spolu the mandate to form a government. Many problems await Fiala.
One month after the parliamentary elections in the Czech Republic, President Milos Zeman officially tasked the conservative Petr Fiala with forming a government. In view of the election result, the head of the center-right alliance Spolu (Together) was given the task of negotiating with the parties represented in parliament about the formation of a government, said Zeman, according to a spokesman.
In the election on October 9, Fiala’s center-right alliance Spolu had become the strongest force ahead of the populist ANO party of the previous head of government Andrej Babis. Together with a left-liberal alliance led by the Pirate Party, he has a majority of 108 of the 200 seats in parliament. The five parties signed a coalition agreement on Monday.
The political scientist Fiala is considered a passionate supporter of the European Union – although his conservative ODS party also has prominent EU critics in its ranks. Fiala’s assumption of office as Prime Minister is likely to be shaped by the Corona crisis. In the Czech Republic, the number of infections with the coronavirus is currently increasing sharply. A central issue in the country with 10.7 million inhabitants is also the drastic rise in energy prices.
President Zeman has been hospitalized with liver disease since October 10th. He is close to the voted out populist Babis. The multi-billionaire and founder of the populist ANO must now submit his resignation to Zeman. He will remain in office until the new government is appointed. It had previously been speculated that Zeman could award the contract to form a government to Babis. Its populist party ANO had become the strongest single force in the parliamentary elections on October 8th and 9th, but the multi-billionaire lacks possible allies to govern.