President Zeman says he is prepared to name opposition leader Petr Fiala prime minister designate

Prezident Miloš Zeman has said he is ready to take the steps needed to form a new government in the wake of October’s general elections. Speaking on the phone from his hospital bed, Mr. Zeman told Frekvence 1 radio that he was prepared to name opposition leader Petr Fiala prime minister designate. The president said the outgoing prime minister and ANO leader Andrej Babiš had no interest in trying to form a government since none of the parties in the new lower house were prepared to negotiate with him.

The two coalition groupings that ran against Andrej Babiš – SPOLU and PirStan – have already agreed on the policy priorities of a future government and negotiated the division of ministerial posts. They are due to sign a coalition agreement on Monday.

The president, who spent close to four weeks in intensive care at Prague’s Central Military Hospital, was moved to a standard room on Thursday evening and has said he will want to speak with the heads of all the newly-elected parliamentary parties.