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Deputies elected last month took part in a constituent session of the Czech lower house on Monday afternoon. The session was chaired by Miroslava Němcová, who was speaker of the house during the last parliament; one of the first tasks of the new lower house is to choose her successor. Jan Hamáček of the Social Democrats, who came first in October’s elections, is expected to win the post. The average age of the new intake of MPs is just under 50, making this the oldest parliament since the foundation of the Czech Republic. Thirty-nine of the deputies are women – five fewer than after elections in 2010.

The Social Democrats have admitted there is a possibility they could support an initiative to scrap a screening law adopted in the 1990s to prevent collaborators with the communist-era secret police from holding high office. On Monday, the party’s chairman Bohuslav Sobotka suggested that the legislation had served its purpose and that there was no real reason for its continuation. Members of government post-1989 have all required a clean slate under the bill and the centre-right TOP 09 and Civic Democrats are in favour of the bill remaining in force. There is speculation that the head of ANO 2011 Andrej Babiš, as finance minister, would fail screening as he was listed in StB records. The magnate denies having ever collaborated with the secret police and is suing to clear his name in neighbouring Slovakia, where the evidence originated.

Billionaire businessman Andrej Babiš, the head of ANO 2011 which came second in last month’s elections, has confirmed that Zbyněk Průša, the head of the DEZA chemical firm would head of the board of directors of Agrofert, the parent company. Babiš, who owns 100 percent of the chemical and agriculture firm and employs some 27,000 people through numerous firms, could be named the country’s next minister of finance – if ANO 2011, the Social Democrats and the Christian Democrats agree on a coalition. Mr Průša confirmed that if he received the offer he would accept; it is unclear whether he would also be the company’s general director once Mr Babiš joined the government.

Owners of luxury cars who were part of a motorcade that drove through a protected area of Šumava National Park in September each received a fine of 4,000 crowns, commercial broadcaster TV Nova reports. According to the station, a highly-placed member of the police presidium was the only one not penalized, on the grounds that he could only be punished by his direct superior. The park’s representatives originally suggested that fines could go as high as 50,000 per driver. None of those fined has appealed the decision.