The coalition government of Andrej Babis (ANO) yesterday evening survived the first attempt by the opposition to vote no confidence in it. The vote was expected, as the three government parties hold a comfortable majority in the Chamber of Deputies.
The impetus for the vote of no confidence was the escalation of a conflict between the Motorists party and President Petr Pavel, who refused to appoint Motorists honorary chairperson Filip Turek as environment minister.
The vote of no confidence took place 20 days after the new government of ANO, Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) and the Motorists won their initial confidence vote in parliament. The debate took two days of proceedings, and lasted more than 22 hours in total.
The dismissal of the cabinet was supported by those MPs present from the five opposition parties – the Civic Democrats (ODS), the Christian Democrats (KDU-CSL), the Mayors and Independents (STAN), the Pirates and TOP 09. These parties have 92 MPs in the 200-seat chamber.
The 84 opposition MPs present voted against the government. The remaining eight excused themselves from the session. At least 101 votes are needed to topple a cabinet. 99 MPS from the ruling parties supported the government, while the other nine were not present.
PM Babis was not present at the session as he was on a working visit to Italy, where he met with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Former prime minister Petr Fiala (ODS) and Pirate leader Zdenek Hrib excused themselves from the session as well.
The opposition initiated the no-confidence vote after the government coalition refused to accept any of its proposals to discuss in the Chamber of Deputies last week the text messages sent by Motorists leader and Deputy Prime Minister Petr Macinka to a presidential advisor. In these messages, Macinka threatened retaliatory measures due to the president’s refusal to appoint Turek. Pavel considered the messages to be an attempt at blackmail.
ODS leader Martin Kupka said after the vote that Babis complained during the session that the opposition was preventing the government from doing its work, but that Babis’s speech on Tuesday was the longest, so he was delaying the work the most. He also took issue with Macinka’s insults toward President Pavel in front of members of parliament. “No apology, no humility,” Kupka stated.
ANO MPs deputy parliamentary group leader Robert Kralicek noted that even opposition leaders had not considered it worthwhile to express their opinion in the vote, referring to the absence of ex-PM Fiala and Hrib. Outgoing KDU-CSL leader Marek Vyborny said in response that the session would not have to take place at all if the government were capable of basic self-reflection.
“We reject the idea that we are making empty gestures here. The crowded squares on Sunday showed that civil society is not satisfied with Minister Macinka’s unprecedented blackmailing of the president,” TOP 09 chairman Matej Ondrej Havel said after the vote.
TOP 09 MP Jiri Pospisil said that instead of an explanation from Macinka, MPs once again heard an aggressive speech, suggesting that foreign policy will be under threat. Macinka is confusing politics with some kind of combat game, and the situation is becoming very serious, Pospisil added.
Pirate parliamentary leader Olga Richterova said that although the government survived the no-confidence vote, that does not change the seriousness of the situation. She said that Andrej Babis is failing as prime minister and is a puppet of extremists from the Motorists and SPD.
Former deputy prime minister Ivan Bartos (Pirates) said that foreign policy should not be driven by Minister Macinka’s personal ambitions.
One of the last MPs who spoke in the Chamber of Deputies before the vote yesterday evening was former foreign minister Jan Lipavsky (for ODS), who described Macinka’s words about the dark side of the president’s personality and past as another attack on the president.
“We are witnessing a dirty campaign by Petr Macinka, whose goal is to cover up his own failures. Motorists have become slaves to Andrej Babis and Tomio Okamura. They have not become a check on Andrej Babis, but rather provide him with an alibi,” said Lipavsky. Okamura is chair of the far-right SPD and Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies.
Of the 21 attempts to pass votes of no confidence in the history of the Czech Republic, only one has been successful since. In 2009, the Chamber of Deputies dismissed the cabinet of Mirek Topolanek (ODS). The previous government of Petr Fiala faced four attempts by the opposition movements ANO and SPD to overthrow it.
