Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis pushed his minority government closer to the brink of a split-up, refusing to back the appointment of a ministerial candidate from his junior coalition partner. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Babis, who previously had not opposed the nomination for culture minister from the Social Democrats, told TV Prima late Friday night that he wouldn\u2019t be in a government with his coalition partner\u2019s choice for the post. By reversing course, he aligned himself with political ally Czech President Milos Zeman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Zeman has been playing hardball over the appointment by the \nSocial Democrats, a party he used to run before an acrimonious departure\n a decade ago. He\u2019s since aligned himself with Babis, a billionaire with\n whom he shares similar views on refugees and the establishment \npolitical parties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ties in the coalition have been pushed to the limit since \nBabis\u2019s opponents in June staged the biggest street protests since the \n1989 fall of communism. Should the coalition crumble, the president can \nask Babis to form a new government with support from other parties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Babis\n is himself under scrutiny, with police recommending he be charged with \nfraud tied to the use of European Union funds. He is also accused of \nhaving a conflict of interest because many of the decisions he makes \ndirectly benefit his business empire. He denies any wrongdoing and says \nthe allegations have been fabricated to drive him from his post. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Under the constitution, the president is obliged to dismiss \nand name ministers at the premier\u2019s request. But Zeman, who was \nre-elected for his second and final term last year, has exploited \nambiguities in the charter to keep Babis in office and carve out a \nstronger political role for himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Babis said in the TV \ninterview following his two-week summer vacation that he changed his \nmind on culture ministry candidate Michal Smarda because of critical \ncomments he made recently in the media. Zeman says he opposes Smarda \nbecause he is not qualified for the post.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The prime minister is \nset to meet with Social Democratic leader Jan Hamacek on Monday and then\n with the president on Tuesday. The Social Democrats have said \npreviously that they won\u2019t drop their candidate and argued that it \nwouldn\u2019t make sense for them to stay in a government where they can\u2019t \nname their own ministers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hamacek tweeted late Friday that he expects the prime minister and president to follow the coalition agreement, and that he won\u2019t comment further before meeting with Babis in person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Credit: Written by Lenka Ponikelska for Bloomberg<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Prime Minister Babis has pushed his minority government closer to the brink of a split-up, refusing to back the appointment of a ministerial candidate from his junior coalition partner. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1561,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Government on brink of collapse over Minister nominee. ","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[2],"tags":[68,56],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n