New Czech coalition government wins confidence vote, after months of turmoil. The Czech Republic’s – Czechia – new conservative-led government won a vote of confidence in the lower house of parliament on Thursday in a mandatory ballot that every administration must win to govern.
Lawmakers voted 106-87 in favour of the government led by Prime Minister Petr Fiala, which was formed after October’s general election, ending the reign of populist billionaire Andrej Babis.
It has formed a government with a centre-left liberal coalition made up of the Pirate Party and STAN – a group of mayors and independent candidates – which placed third.
Follow WTX EU News website for all the latest breaking news from the EU
New Czech coalition government wins confidence vote Czechia
“We’re not populists,” Fiala told lawmakers during a debate that ended with the vote on Thursday. “We’re not promising anything that we’re not sure we can fulfil.”
The coalition government holds 108 of the lower house’s 200 seats, relegating Babis and his centrist ANO (YES) movement to the opposition.
A three-party, liberal-conservative coalition known as Together, composed of the Civic Democratic Party, the Christian Democrats and the TOP 09 party came in first with 27.8% of the vote.
Follow WTX News EU on Twitter for live breaking news for all the news around the EU
The new coalition government must navigate their differences
The new Czechia government must now work to move the country forward in the wake of the pandemic. But first, they need to address their difference. This really was a union of power not a union of compromise. The parties have such deep-rooted differences from Gay marriages and the EU, that the coalition seemed unlikely.
However, now they must iron out their differences on many issues, including climate change, same-sex marriage and the adoption of the euro, the coalition parties all support the Czech Republic’s membership of the European Union and NATO.
Fiala’s government will also inherit major problems with the vaccination campaign, as only 60.3% of the population is fully vaccinated and the number of people coming forward to be inoculated has plateaued in recent weeks.
……………………………………………………