Czech President Milos Zeman on Tuesday handed the task of forming a new government to Petr Fiala, head of the centre-right Together alliance.<\/p>\n
On the basis of the results of the parliamentary elections, I am instructing you to conduct negotiations with the representatives of the political parties represented in the Chamber of Deputies with a view to forming a government, a presidential spokesman quoted Zeman as saying.<\/p>\n
Zeman has been in hospital with liver problems since October 10, the day after the vote.<\/p>\n
Previously Zeman had seemed to favour giving the job of forming a government to billionaire Prime Minister Andrej Babis, his ally, whose populist ANO movement came narrowly second.<\/p>\n
Together, comprising three centrist and right-wing parties, has formed a coalition with another centrist two-party alliance for a majority of 108 votes in the 200-seat lower house of parliament.<\/p>\n
The five parties formally signed a coalition agreement on Monday as the new parliament held its first session.<\/p>\n
Over the next few days I will continue negotiations with the coalition partners on the final shape of the government, Fiala, a political scientist by training, announced on Twitter on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Fiala is a fervent supporter of the EU, but heads a party with Eurosceptic tendencies.<\/p>\n
The Czech Republic, an EU and NATO member of 10.7 million people, is currently grappling with fast growth in Covid infections, as well as a steep rise in energy prices.<\/p>\n
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Czech centre-right coalition head tasked with forming govt - Macau Business<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Czech President Milos Zeman on Tuesday handed the task of forming a new government to Petr Fiala, head of the centre-right Together alliance. On the basis of the results of the parliamentary elections, I am instructing you to conduct negotiations with the representatives of the political parties represented in the Chamber of Deputies with a view to forming a government, a presidential spokesman quoted Zeman as saying. Continue reading