Czech President Milos Zeman arrives for the cabinet’s inauguration at Prague Castle in Prague, Czech Republic June 27, 2018. REUTERS/David W Cerny
June 27, 2018
PRAGUE (Reuters) – Czech President Milos Zeman appointed a new two-party cabinet led by Prime Minister Andrej Babis on Wednesday, installing a minority government that will need the support of the once-outcast Communist party to exercise its mandate.
Babis’s anti-establishment ANO party won an election last October but has yet to win parliamentary approval for a government. To break the stalemate, it has agreed a coalition with the Social Democrats.
But with just 93 seats in the 200-strong lower house, the coalition is seeking outside support from the Communists – giving the fringe party its first say in national politics since its authoritarian rule ended almost three decades ago.
Babis has pledged to keep the country focused on maintaining good relations with the European Union and NATO allies, but it will keep a strong anti-immigration stance held by its central European neighbors, at odds with Germany and other key EU states.
The new government is expected to face a mandatory confidence vote next month, possibly on July 11.
The Communists have signaled they would be ready to back the government in the vote but have been angered by Babis’s refusal to heed their demands for cutbacks of contribution to NATO military missions abroad, especially in the Baltics, and for representation on the supervisory board of the biggest state-controlled firm, electricity producer CEZ.
The Communist party will hold a leadership meeting on Saturday to decide its stance.
(Reporting by Robert Muller; Writing by Jason Hovet; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)
