Complicated times lie ahead on the Czech political scene, following Miloš Zeman’s successful defense of his office in last weekend’s elections. Everything now revolves around the Zeman and the head of the ANO party, Andrej Babiš. The country’s only heavyweight politicians supported each other in their respective elections, despite apparent differences of opinion on matters of policy. But the two men have both been weakened by the past year. Zeman’s physical health has clearly taken a turn for the worse in recent months, with the simple act of walking from room to room now a difficult one. Babiš, on the other hand, lost his post as finance minister last year as the scandal over his company’s alleged misuse of EU funds was revealed.
Three months after parliamentary elections, Babiš is still struggling to form a minority government and has been forced to look for support in Parliament from the Communist party and from a far-right nationalist party.
As president, whom Babiš endorsed after an unconvincing first-round victory, Zeman has a powerful role in establishing the government. Should Babiš succeed in winning a vote of confidence, Zeman will likely call in his debt, according to the weekly Respekt, by pushing some of his own priorities. Among the most important are holding a referendum on whether to remain in the EU and who will win a massive tender for nuclear reactors, in which Respect writes that Zeman supports Russian suppliers. Babiš claims to be pro-European and that he’s opposed to Zeman’s eastward leanings to Russia and China. “In the coming weeks and months it will become clear to what extent this is true,” writes Respekt.
