Prague, Dec. 17 (BNA) After months of delays due to coalition talks and health concerns, the newest Czech government was inaugurated, Friday, at a ceremony at Lani Castle near Prague.
The new government is made up of the Civil Democrats (ODS), and the new government also includes the Christian Democrats (KDU-CSL), the Party of Mayors (STAN), the Pirate Party and the Civic Assembly TOP09. The German news agency (dpa) reported that he controls 108 of the seats in the 200-seat legislature.
Talks to reach an agreement between the five parties took several weeks. Then, when the parties were ready to claim power, President Milos Zeman was hospitalized, which meant that he was not available to oversee the transfer of power.
Even when he was discharged from the hospital, he was diagnosed with coronavirus. Political science professor Peter Fiala was sworn in as the new prime minister at the end of November, but only in a ceremony that saw Zeman impeached in a glass case.
The coalition of liberal and conservative parties will take the lead from the populist government led by André Papis. Some changes will come quickly: for the first time since 2010, there is a Minister for Europe, Mikolas Beck.
Babis was pressured to reveal his financial dealings.
The Czech Republic is due to assume the presidency of the Council of the European Union in the second half of 2022.
The change comes in the middle of the fourth wave of coronavirus hitting the Central European country: the seven-day infection rate in the Czech Republic is 704 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants. A vaccine mandate is set to take effect next year.
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