In the Czech Republic, five center parties have reached an agreement on the formation of a government. The Spolu (‘Together’) bloc with center-right parties won elections early last month and is now partnering with a center-left alliance, including the Pirate Party.
“We have an agreement on our coalition agreement and our priorities,” said Petr Fiala, the leader of the center-right Civil Democratic Party. It is not yet clear what the plans are. The ministers have yet to be appointed.
Fiala is likely to lead the new cabinet. It is also clear that there will be more ministers than in the previous cabinet. There will be a new minister for EU affairs, one for legislation and one for science and research.
baby offside
The centre-right and centre-left blocs together won 108 of the 200 seats in the Czech House of Commons. The party ANO 2011 of billionaire and prime minister Babis became surprising narrowly defeated. The two blocs had previously said they would not cooperate with Babis and campaigned against him and his policies.
The new coalition must, among other things, work on reducing the government deficit. Due to the corona crisis, the state has lost a lot of money on support measures and the pensions and salaries of civil servants have also been increased. At the same time, taxes were lowered. The Ministry of Finance expects a deficit of almost 15 billion euros for next year.
It will probably take some time before the new government can be sworn in; President Zeman, who plays an important role in forming the coalition, has been in hospital since October 10. It is not yet clear when he will be able to return to work.
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