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The head of the Communist party, Vojtěch Filip met with President Miloš Zeman at Lány chateau on Tuesday to discuss conditions for supporting a minority government headed by ANO leader Andrej Babiš. The Communists would insist, Mr Filip said, on a general referendum bill, a program regularly raising the minimum wage over a four-year period, and a bill protecting natural wealth, that is, the ownership of natural resources, following the recent debate over lithium reserves.

Other items important for the party, Mr Filip told journalists after his meeting with the president, were a matter to be debated. He estimated that a new minority government could face a confidence vote by Christmas.

A new poll conducted by the Median agency has suggested that presidential candidate Jiří Drahoš, the former head of the Czech Academy of Sciences, would make it into the second round of the presidential election in January and would narrowly defeat the incumbent, Miloš Zeman, by a total of 51 percent to 49 percent.

The poll was conducted in the month of October; a month earlier, the poll suggested Drahoš would finish with 55.5 percent of the vote. The poll did not take into account the candidacy of latecomer former prime minister Mirek Topolánek, who announced his intention to run this week.

Another poll, conducted by CVVM and published on Monday, also suggested Mr Drahoš would make it into the second round. According to that survey, 34 percent would vote for the incumbent, 22 percent for Mr Drahoš and 13 percent for lyricist Michal Horáček.

Energy producers in the Czech Republic have tabulated that damage from hurricane-force winds two Sundays ago, reached almost 100 million crowns. The storm, which began at around 12 AM on October 29, and lasted throughout the night and into the next day, brought down trees and power lines; four people were killed by falling trees. On the country’s highest peak, Snežka, winds reached the speed of 180 km/h. The head of energy giant ČEZ, Daniel Beneš, said that ČEZ had seen damage worth more than 70 million crowns but said it would have no impact on company results as the firm was insured against natural calamities of this kind.

Energy company E.ON posted damage at around 20 million crowns.

Andrej Babiš, the head of ANO tasked with forming the new government, has said he has found a candidate for the post of Minister of Industry and Trade. However, he has not divulged the person’s name as yet. Mr Babiš is looking to form a minority government capable of finding broader political backing in the lower house, after his party won almost 30 percent of the vote in the election in October.

On Monday, ANO representatives met with representatives of the Civic Democratic party to discuss posts in the new Chamber of Deputies; ANO is pushing for Radek Vondráček to become the new house speaker. Facing opposition to the idea, Babiš pointed out the last election winners, the Social Democrats, had also secured the post.