Czech President hospitalized; Could affect the formation of the new government

Czech President Milos Zeman was rushed to hospital Sunday, a day after the country held parliamentary elections in which the populist party of Prime Minister Andrej Babis came in second and Zeman has a key role in establishing a new government.

The Czech presidency is largely ceremonial, but the president chooses which political leader can try to form the next government. Earlier on Sunday, Zeman met Babis, his close ally, but the prime minister made no comment as he left presidential castle in Lany, near Prague.

On Saturday, the centrist party ANO (Yes) led by Babis, a populist billionaire, narrowly lost the Czech elections, which could spell the end of the reign of the Eurosceptic leader in this country of the European Union of 10.7 million d ‘residents.

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A Liberal-Conservative tripartite coalition called Together won 27.8% of the vote, beating Babis’ NOA, which won 27.1%. In a second blow to the populists, another liberal center-left coalition received 15.6% to finish third.

The winning coalition took 71 seats while its third-place partner took 37 seats to have a comfortable majority of 108 seats in the lower house of Parliament, which has 200 seats, and they pledged to work together. Babis’ party won 72 seats, six fewer than in the 2017 elections.

But Zeman said earlier that he would appoint the leader of the strongest party first, not the strongest coalition, to try to form the government. This would give Babis a chance to try and find a majority for his eventual new government.

If he fails, as expected, and his last government does not win a mandatory confidence vote in the House, Zeman could ask him to try to create a new government again.

It’s already arrived. With no deadline for the president’s decision, the country faced protracted political instability from the October 2017 elections until July of the following year, when Babis’ second cabinet finally won the vote of confidence.

“It would not be surprising if the electoral defeat did not become a reality for Babis in the following months,” said analyst Petr Just of Metropolitan University of Prague.

But unlike 2017, this latest election produced a clear winner. Ensemble leader and candidate for prime minister Petr Fiala urged Zeman to accept the election results.

“The opposition won a clear majority in the lower house,” Fiala said. “The Constitution makes it clear that a government needs the support of a majority. We will see what action President Zeman needs to take, but it is essential that he cannot ignore it.”

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In his only post-election commentary, Zeman congratulated the winner of the election and all elected lawmakers.

If Zeman is unable to act due to his illness or for other reasons, the Prime Minister and the Speakers of both Houses of Parliament will resume his presidential powers. If that happens, the new president of the lower house chooses the prime minister. Parliament must meet within 30 days of the election to select the president and other officials.

In other election results, the anti-migrant and anti-Muslim force in the Czech Republic, the Freedom and Direct Democracy Party, which wants the country to leave the EU, finished fourth with 9.6% support, or 20 seats. Another surprise is that the Social Democrats and the Communists, the country’s traditional parliamentary parties, have not both won seats in parliament for the first time since the split of Czechoslovakia in 1993.

The Prague military hospital confirmed that Zeman was transported there on Sunday. Zeman, 77, is a heavy smoker and drinker who suffers from diabetes. He has difficulty walking and uses a wheelchair.

“The reason for his hospitalization are the complications that accompany the chronic disease for which we are treating him here,” explained Dr Miroslav Zavoral, the director of the clinic. He refused to elaborate.

Jiri Ovcacek, the president’s spokesman, later said his current hospital stay does not threaten the country’s post-election negotiations and its constitutional obligations. He said Zeman had requested to receive daily media monitoring.

Zeman had already been admitted on September 14 for what his office later described as a planned exam. The office said the president was only dehydrated and slightly exhausted. Zeman was released after eight days, his longest hospital stay.

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He spent four days in the same hospital in 2019 for similar reasons.