PM rejects Social Democrats demand for extra coalition guarantee

Acting Prime Minister Andrej Babiš has rejected a demand by Social Democrats that the coalition agreement between the two parties should include a guarantee requiring any government found guilty in a first-instance court verdict to resign.

The Social Democrats pushed for the clause not least because Mr Babiš faces charges of EU subsidy fraud. On Monday, Mr Babiš said he saw no reason for such a demand, attempting to turn the argument on its head, questioning whether the Social Democrats would “leave” the government if the charges ended up being dropped.

The prime minister said he had heard he was charged a thousand times and was “allergic to it by now”, news site iDnes reported.