President Petr Pavel today entrusted ANO leader Andrej Babis with negotiating the formation of the next Czech government, the Presidential Office has announced on its website.
Earlier today, Babis updated Pavel on the development of the coalition agreement talks and policy statement of the emerging government of ANO, Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) and the Motorists.
The president is tasked with entrusting a nominee to form a cabinet in the Czech Republic, but according to the constitution, the President only appoints the Prime Minister.
The Presidential Office said that Babis promised to provide Pavel with the text of the coalition agreement and the programme priorities in the second half of the week. Today, the president was particularly interested in the foreign and security policy of the future coalition government, according to the statement.
Babis has not yet presented the proposed cabinet line-up to Pavel, but he did mention some of the names of possible candidates for ministers that are being discussed by the three parties, according to the office.
It added that Pavel expects Babis to present a government that will not weaken the principles of a democratic state embodied in the constitution.
The president is ready to meet the candidates for cabinet members and discuss their priorities and positions with them.
Babis, who owns the vast Agrofert holding company, assured Pavel today that he would present a solution to the questions over his conflict of interest publicly before his appointment as prime minister.
The date for the next meeting between Pavel and Babis will be determined according to developments in the situation. “It depends above all on the chairman of the ANO movement, when he will have the basic documents and personnel issues approved with his political partners,” the Presidential Office said.
Babis told journalists today that he presented the development of the talks on the government formation to Pavel at their meeting this morning, which lasted over an hour.
Following the elections held three weeks ago, ANO, SPD and the Motorists first agreed on which party would get which ministry. Last week, they worked on the programme of their future government, and they will meet again for further negotiations on Wednesday.
Babis said he will propose the names of the ministers to the president when the nascent government completes both the policy statement and the coalition agreement and when negotiations on the 2026 state budget start in the lower house.
Babis’s cabinet should have 16 members, with ANO having nine, SPD three, and the Motorists four.
Some of the proposed nominations from the Motorists have aroused public controversy and criticism, especially the mention of new MP Filip Turek as possible foreign minister. According to Denik N, Turek repeatedly posted racist and homophobic posts on Facebook in the past, and has made numerous references to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. Environmentalists have also protested against the possible nomination of Motorists leader Petr Macinka as environment minister, and cultural figures have done the same regarding the appointment of Oto Klempir as culture minister.
Last week, Denik N reported that Babis himself has chosen the experts to sit in the government for SPD, which will occupy the ministries of defence, agriculture and transport. Former first deputy chief of the General Staff Jaromir Zuna and Association of Defence and Security Industry executive director Jiri Hynek have been mentioned for the role of defence minister. Martin Sebestyan, the former head of the State Agricultural Intervention Fund, is most often mentioned as the new agriculture minister. According to some Czech media, former head of Ceske drahy Ivan Bednarik and railway infrastructure administration head Jiri Svoboda are in the running to become transport minister.
