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Czech Social Democrat leader Jan Hamáček said Saturday that membership of the party should decide in a referendum whether it takes part in a coalition government with the ANO party.

Hamáček, taking part in a meeting of the party’s central executive committee, said the vote would take place when negotiations with ANO and the communist party, which has said it is prepared to support a minority government, are completed. The leadership’s recommendation on how to vote would depend on the shape of the eventual deal, the leader added.

The committee decided that a vote should take place within two months and would be valid if at least a quarter of the party membership took part.

The Social Democrats have been deeply divided about forming a government with ANO leader Andrej Babiš, who is facing criminal charges for alleged EU subsidy fraud. Most party senators and some regional governors have opposed being part of a government.

The Czech Republic stood out against a ban on a series of pesticides which was pushed through by other EU states on the grounds that they seriously endangered bees.

The Czech Republic was one of four countries which stood out against the ban of so-called neonicotinoids, alongside Denmark, Romania, and Hungary. Sixteen EU countries voted for the ban on outdoor use of the pesticides with eight abstaining.

The Czech Ministry of Agriculture had specifically been seeking an exception allowing for the use of the pesticide on the sugar beet crop warning that without it production costs and the profitability of the crop would be threatened.

From January next year the pesticide will only be allowed for use in closed greenhouses.

The ANO party of prime minister Andrej Babiš still tops political preferences according to a survey conducted by the CVVM agency, albeit with a reduced lead.

April’s poll shows ANO with support from 29 percent, down from March’s 30.5 percent. The Civic Democrats improved to 13.5 percent and the Pirate party unchanged at 12.5 percent. The Social Democrats advanced to 11.5 percent from the previous month’s 11 percent. The communist party fell back to 10 percent from March’s 11 percent.

The poll suggests around 58 percent of eligible voters would take part in elections.

The biggest grouping of Czech trades unions, the Confederation of Czech and Moravian Trades Unions, is focusing on higher wages and a shorter working week at a two day congress in the capital, Prague, beginning Friday.

The unions want to see a cut in the working week by 2.5 hours. They also want to see a 1,500 crown hike in the minimum wage from January next year from the current 12,200 crowns to 13,700 crowns. The unions point out that past increases in the minimum wage have not dented the performance of the Czech economy, as employers had warned.

The two-day meeting should elect a new leadership for the next four years. The only contender to be chairman is the current incumbent, Josef Středula.