President Petr Pavel appointed the members of the new Czech government at Prague Castle this morning, and Prime Minister Andrej Babis subsequently inaugurated the new ministers from the Motorists, Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD), and his own ANO movement.
Babis has returned to the government after four years. His cabinet had its first meeting this morning. ANO has the prime minister and eight other ministers, SPD has three ministers, and the Motorists four.
Motorists leader Petr Macinka is temporarily heading not only the Foreign Ministry but also the Ministry of the Environment, as the Motorists’ candidate for environment minister, Filip Turek, has not yet had a meeting with Pavel due to health reasons, and the president does not want him in the cabinet.
Babis said at a press conference today that the next course of action will depend on Turek’s health condition. He said he hoped the president would accept him. “We’ll see what happens,” he said.
The new government will have four deputy prime ministers: Industry and Trade Minister Karel Havlicek, Finance Minister Alena Schillerova (both ANO), Foreign Minister Petr Macinka and Defence Minister Jaromir Zuna (SPD). At the first meeting of the new cabinet, they decided to appoint Havlicek as the First Deputy Prime Minister.
The government holds a majority of 108 MPs in the 200-seat lower house of parliament. On 13 January, it will ask the lower house for a vote of confidence.
Six of the nine ANO representatives in the new cabinet were already members of Babis’s previous cabinet. The three newcomers are Labour Minister Ales Juchelka, Regional Development Minister Zuzana Mrazova, and Justice Minister Jeronym Tejc.
The other two ministers for SPD are Transport Minister Ivan Bednarik and Agriculture Minister Martin Sebestyan. The Motorists have Culture Minister Oto Klempir and Minister for Sport, Prevention and Health Boris Stastny.
The Motorists have seats in the lower house for the first time this election period, while SPD already had MPs in the previous parliaments. SPD is joining the government for the first time, despite having fewer MPs than before.
