Finance minister slams new cabinet
Members of the centre-right coalition have again confirmed they will not back the Rusnok government in a confidence vote as long as they hold a majority in the Chamber of Deputies. Speaking to the daily Právo, outgoing Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek derided the new government as a “cabinet of friends of Miloš Zeman” and not a government of “experts”. He warned it would neither pass in the lower house nor see a state budget for next year approved, raising the risk of a provisional budget.
The coalition’s candidate for prime minister, Miroslava Němcová, meanwhile, slammed President Zeman’s decision to ignore the balance of power in the Chamber of Deputies as irresponsible; she stressed that the new cabinet would not get any support from her party . The centre-right coalition, which collapsed following the resignation of former prime minister Nečas, will not push for early elections as long as they have a majority.