{"id":314,"date":"2017-12-15T18:52:06","date_gmt":"2017-12-15T17:52:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/czechpoints.com\/?p=314"},"modified":"2019-07-11T16:32:32","modified_gmt":"2019-07-11T14:32:32","slug":"the-honeymoon-is-over-babis-lacks-support-for-confidence-vote","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/czechpoints.com\/the-honeymoon-is-over-babis-lacks-support-for-confidence-vote\/","title":{"rendered":"The Honeymoon is Over – Babi\u0161 Lacks Support for Confidence Vote"},"content":{"rendered":"

PRAGUE \u2014 If Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babi\u0161 thought his toughest battle was behind him after his ANO movement won October\u2019s parliamentary election, he now knows differently.<\/span><\/p>\n

President Milo\u0161 Zeman formally swore in a Babi\u0161-led government on Wednesday, but its future is anything but secure. Most Czech parties have refused to join the government because the billionaire prime minister has been charged with fraud involving a \u20ac2 million EU subsidy for a farm and conference center in 2008.<\/span><\/p>\n

As a result, ANO is 23 votes short of a majority in the 200-seat Chamber of Deputies. So Babi\u0161 \u2014 who denies the charges \u2014 will spend most of the holiday break trying to seduce party leaders and mavericks into supporting his administration when it faces its first vote of confidence in early January.<\/span><\/p>\n

That will not be easy. This week, the center-right Civic Democrats, the second-strongest party in the chamber, and most of the other parties, declared again that they would not support a minority government led by Babi\u0161. And Tomio Okamura, the leader of the anti-immigration and anti-EU SPD, which finished third in the voting, said his party would only support a government that would carry out its hard-line program.<\/span><\/p>\n

Only the Communists have remained open to supporting the new government. But that would still leave Babi\u0161 eight votes short of a majority.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the swearing-in ceremony in Prague Castle, the prime minister called for political unity. \u201cAll political representatives must be on one ship, fighting for the security of our people and Europe,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, losing the vote of confidence would not mark the end of Babi\u0161\u2019 efforts to form a viable government. Zeman \u2014 who is standing for reelection in January \u2014 has declared that he would give Babi\u0161 two chances to form a functioning administration.<\/span><\/p>\n

Political analyst Ji\u0159\u00ed Pehe, director of New York University in Prague, suggested this scenario suits both men \u2014 as a political crisis could boost Zeman\u2019s reelection chances and put pressure on other parties to support a Babi\u0161 government.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think Babi\u0161 wants to get the votes this time,\u201d Pehe said. \u201cThe way he\u2019s been putting together this government, without many discussions with the other parties, he is fully prepared not to pass the vote of confidence.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The daily Pravo, which is close to the Social Democrats, reported that a faction within the party may buck the leadership and vote to support a Babi\u0161-led minority government. If so, it may encourage rebels from other parties.<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition, the prime minister may also be working on ways to ensure his immunity from prosecution \u2014 as a member of parliament \u2014 is not lifted. The last parliament lifted his immunity just weeks before the election. But Babi\u0161 now has immunity once again, as a member of the new parliament.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe gave the Communists and SPD some posts in the parliament that they could not have realistically hoped for, as payment to block the loss of immunity,\u201d Pehe said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Both Okamura and Communist Party Chairman Vojt\u011bch Filip were appointed deputy speakers of the Chamber of Deputies. In addition, another Communist Party member was named chairman of parliament\u2019s mandate and immunity committee, which has postponed a decision on Babi\u0161\u2019 immunity until January.<\/span><\/p>\n

Pehe said not having a stable government in January would aid Zeman\u2019s reelection bid because \u201che will be able to present himself as an experienced and strong president who knows his stuff\u201d and so is better qualified than an inexperienced candidate to lead the country out of the crisis.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cZeman will ask Babi\u0161 to form his second government just between the first and second rounds of the presidential election,\u201d Pehe said. \u201cSo [Zeman] will get much more publicity than any other candidate.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Zeman addressed speculation along these lines at the Prague Castle ceremony, insisting there was nothing to it. \u201cI don\u2019t see the direct connection between the presidential election and the second attempt of the Babi\u0161 government,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Babi\u0161 has one final card to play if he cannot form a viable government. If he ultimately decides that he has to call another election, ANO would almost certainly win, and probably more decisively than in October.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:\u00a0<\/span>Politico.EU<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PRAGUE \u2014 If Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babi\u0161 thought his toughest battle was behind him after his ANO movement won October\u2019s parliamentary election, he now knows differently. President Milo\u0161 Zeman formally swore in a Babi\u0161-led government on Wednesday, but its future is anything but secure. Most Czech parties have refused to join the government because […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":313,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[2],"tags":[68,57,29,51,49],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Honeymoon is Over - Babi\u0161 Lacks Support for Confidence Vote - Czech Points<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/czechpoints.com\/the-honeymoon-is-over-babis-lacks-support-for-confidence-vote\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Honeymoon is Over - Babi\u0161 Lacks Support for Confidence Vote - Czech Points\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"PRAGUE \u2014 If Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babi\u0161 thought his toughest battle was behind him after his ANO movement won October\u2019s parliamentary election, he now knows differently. 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