The Czech parliament has stripped Prime Minister Andrej Babis of his immunity, allowing the police to investigate his alleged role in a subsidy fraud.<\/p>\n
He is accused of removing a farm from his Agrofert conglomerate in 2007 to make it eligible for $2.4m in EU subsidies, before eventually putting it back in the holding.<\/p>\n
Mr Babis, the country’s second-richest person, has denied any wrongdoing.<\/p>\n
The allegation has blocked his attempts to form a government.<\/p>\n
“The problem of this false political case is that I have entered politics… However, I won’t give up,” Mr Babis, 63, told lawmakers before the vote.<\/p>\n
Lawmakers voted 111 to 69 to strip Mr Babis of parliamentary immunity. The prime minister himself voted to lift it.<\/p>\n
Babis, says the case against him is politically motivated, was elected last October on an anti-corruption and Eurosceptic platform, and continues to enjoy popularity among voters, observers say.<\/p>\n
But his centrist movement ANO (Yes) lacks a majority and smaller parties have refused to join a coalition led by Mr Babis. His minority government resigned after losing a parliamentary confidence vote on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
His immunity had already been lifted by lawmakers once, but Mr Babis regained it in when he won last year’s election.<\/p>\n
The case could also influence a\u00a0tight presidential run-off\u00a0between incumbent Milos Zeman, who backs Mr Babis, and academic Jiri Drahos, who says it would be unacceptable to have a prime minister facing police charges.<\/p>\n
The vote will be held on 26-27 January.<\/p>\n
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