Finance Minister Babiš under fire for Šincl incident

Finance Minister and ANO chairman Andrej Babiš has come under fire from both his coalition partners and opposition parties for his behavior towards a Social Democrat backbencher. The backbencher, Ladislav Šincl, said that Babiš described him and his family as corrupt and waved documents in front of him bearing Šincl’s name. The confrontation came after Šincl criticised the minister in Parliament. Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka described Mr. Babiš’ behavior as totally unprecedented and unacceptable and the Social Democratic Party leadership demanded an apology from Mr. Babiš. 0pposition TOP 09 deputy chair, Miroslav Kalousek, accused the ANO party leader of resorting to communist secret police practices to intimidate critics. Minister Babiš is refusing to apologize, saying that deputy Šincl had lied about him in Parliament.

Author: Chris Johnstone