Government to face no-confidence vote on Thursday

The minority government of Prime Minister Andrej Babiš’ ANO party and the Social Democrats will face a vote of no-confidence in the lower house on Thursday. The motion will be tabled by the opposition centre-right parties and the outcome will depend on the vote of the Communist Party, which has been increasingly critical of the government’s performance in office. The party will meet to decide its strategy on the eve of the vote but there are indications it may support the motion.

The centre right opposition parties accuse the government of mishandling the Covid epidemic, the diplomatic row with Russia over the 2014 Vrbětice blasts and of squandering public funds.  Moreover the police announced this week that they had concluded a six-year criminal investigation into whether Mr Babiš illegally acquired 2 million euros in EU subsidies through fraud and proposed filing charges against the prime minister and his former advisor, Jana Mayerová.

During a meeting with Prime Minister Andrej Babiš on Monday evening, President Miloš Zeman reiterated his support for the minority cabinet, making it clear that if it lost the no-confidence vote he would allow it to rule in demise until October’s general elections.