On a visit to the Karlovy Vary Region yesterday, President Petr Pavel told journalists it was legitimate to ask the leader of ANO and incoming Prime Minister Andrej Babis to explain to the public how he will resolve his conflict of interest.
The president said it would be good for the public to hear from its possible future prime minister that he will not have a conflict of interest, and will work for the benefit of the Czech Republic without any conflict with the law.
Babis’s conflict of interest relates to his ownership of Agrofert, a giant chemical, agricultural and food holding company.
Pavel is scheduled to meet Babis on Wednesday, when they will discuss the steps that Babis intends to take to comply with the conflict of interest law, as well as the draft policy statement of the emerging coalition government of ANO, Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) and the Motorists.
“In the event that Andrej Babis has a conflict of interest, from the point of view of the legislation in force, Agrofert will be excluded from all subsidies and public tenders from the date of Andrej Babis’s appointment [as PM],” the president said.
He said this could be a problem not only for Agrofert, but also for the Czech Republic. If the European Union concludes that Babis faces a conflict of interest, this could mean a restriction of resources for the Czech Republic as a whole, “because then all the money from the EU, and there is no shortage of it, will be subject to either suspension or complete blocking,” Pavel added.
At the end of October, Pavel tasked Babis with negotiating the formation of a new cabinet. He told reporters yesterday that the speed of the government formation depended on Babis as the leader of ANO. Pavel said he had neither said nor done anything to delay the process.
“Now it is up to Andrej Babis when he comes up with a way he is ready to resolve his conflict of interest, and when we will talk about the programme statement,” the president noted. He wants to give Babis his comments on the future government’s policy statement, especially on foreign and security policy.
According to Pavel, it will also depend on when Babis brings a proposal for the personnel composition of the future cabinet. Babis said earlier that the coalition would return to the filling of ministerial posts at the end of November. Pavel has repeatedly said that he plans to meet the ministerial candidates and discuss their priorities and positions.
