Andrej Babis, ANO leader and the probable next prime minister, reiterated in a Facebook post today that he will not sell his Agrofert holding, but insisted he will resolve his conflict of interest in accordance with Czech and European law. President Petr Pavel has urged Babis to present the solution to the public.
After Wednesday’s meeting between Babis and Pavel, the Presidential Office said that if Babis took clear steps showing that he intends to resolve his conflict of interest in line with the law, Pavel was ready to appoint him as prime minister without delay.
Babis again told journalists that he would explain his steps to resolve the conflict of interest to Pavel. However, he also said that the president mainly wanted him to explain the procedure to the public, on which Babis did not comment further.
“I have repeatedly said that I will not sell Agrofert, that I will resolve the conflict of interest in accordance with our and European laws,” Babis said in the video, pre-recorded on Wednesday evening.
He noted that the president said his plans should be explained to the public, but did not elaborate, only thanking citizens for the record high number of votes for ANO in the October parliamentary elections.
In February 2017, Babis placed his Agrofert shares into the AB I and II private trust funds, to meet the amended conflict of interest law. However, he retained influence over both funds. In October, he confirmed that he had once again become the sole owner of Agrofert and that he was taking steps to avoid conflicts of interest.
On Wednesday, the president also asked Babis to give more details on the incoming government’s position on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the commitment to fulfilling allied obligations in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), and increasing defence spending. Babis said he would pass the president’s suggestions on the programme to his coalition partners from Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) and the Motorists, and that they would hold talks today.
SPD leader Tomio Okamura said he believed the policy statement as prepared by the negotiating teams was a good compromise that suited his movement’s voters.
According to the Motorists, the Presidential Office is trying to become the fourth party to the negotiations. “It is a joint consensus of the three coalition parties involved,” said Motorists MP Igor Cerveny. “We have a strong mandate of 108 MPs (in the 200-seat lower house) and this statement is based on the consensus of our negotiations. This means there is no reason to implement anything different at this point that maybe Spolu, the Mayors or the Pirates would wish.”
