Czech President to appoint Andrej Babiš as Prime Minister
5 December 10:16
Czech President Petr Pavel will appoint billionaire Andrej Babiš as prime minister after he resolved a conflict of interest by giving up the country’s largest multidisciplinary concern Agrofert, which he owns.
The head of state said this on his page on the social network X, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
“I appreciate the clear and understandable approach of Andriy Babish, who fulfilled our agreement and publicly announced the way to resolve his conflict of interest. In this regard, I have decided to appoint him as Prime Minister on Tuesday, December 9, at 9.00 am,” Pavel wrote.
About an hour earlier, Babish had posted a video on his X page in which he said he would fulfill the president’s condition for his appointment as prime minister, i.e., “irrevocably give up” Agrofert. The billionaire added that he would not regain control of the company even after leaving politics. According to Babish, the concern, which unites more than 250 companies, will be run by independent persons, and after his death, his children will inherit the company.
Babiš’s right-wing party wins parliamentary elections
In early October, following the two-day elections that determined the new composition of the Chamber of Deputies, the lower and most influential chamber of the country’s parliament, Babiš’s right-wing Action of Dissatisfied Citizens (ANO) won the most votes (34.51%). Previously, the billionaire was the Minister of Finance (2014-2017) and Prime Minister (2017-2021) of the Czech Republic, and in recent years remained in opposition.
In November, ANO entered into a coalition agreement with two other right-wing parties, Motorists for Ourselves and the party of the new Speaker of Parliament Tomio Okamura, Freedom and Direct Democracy. Representatives of the three political forces will hold 108 of the 200 seats in the House of Deputies.
