The upcoming presidential election in the Czech Republic has taken a political twist, as the ANO party, led by former Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, has called for a vote of no-confidence in the government between the first and second rounds of the election. Government coalition leaders have stated that this move is linked to Babiš’s campaign, however, ANO party denies this interpretation.

The Deputy Prime Minister of the Christian Democrats, Marian Jurečka, has stated that senior ANO MP Alena Schillerová had said only a month ago that the party would not call a no-confidence vote and he did not see what had changed in the interim. The coalition government has a solid majority in the lower house (108 out of 200 seats), making it highly unlikely that such a vote would pass. It is expected to have the same outcome as the first vote in September last year when the opposition tried to oust the government led by Petr Fiala (ODS).

According to ANO, the official reason for the vote of no-confidence is that the government is not paying enough attention to important issues such as the energy crisis, inflation or the shortage of medicine. The first round of the presidential election begins this Friday, and the bookmakers have made Petr Pavel the favorite to succeed Miloš Zeman as president, with Babiš being the second favorite. Economist and academic Danuše Nerudová, whose chances have dropped to 15 to 1, is not expected to advance to the second round, which is scheduled for two weeks later.

Article by Prague Forum