- President Pavel emphasizes the need for transparency in the appointment of the Czech prime minister.
- As the winner of the election, ANO could propose an alternative candidate.
- Babiš plans to resolve the conflict of interests in accordance with Czech laws.
- Schillerová claims that Babiš will take irreversible steps without selling Agrofert.
Czech President Petr Pavel said on Monday that transparency is necessary for the appointment of a new prime minister. If the chairman of the ANO movement, Andrej Babiš, was not able to satisfactorily resolve his conflict of interests, then by appointing him, he would contribute to the creation of an illegal situation. He told Radiožurnál Czech Radio that in such a case, it would be appropriate for ANO, as the winner of the recent elections, to propose another candidate for the post of prime minister. TASR informs about this according to reports from iRozhlas, iDnes.cz and Novinky.cz servers.
If Babiš owned the Agrofert holding at the time of his appointment as prime minister, he would have found himself in a conflict of interest, and he would have had 30 days to resolve it. The head of ANO announced on Thursday that he will announce the way he will resolve the conflict of interests shortly before the head of state appoints him as prime minister. He repeated that he will resolve the situation in a way that is in line with the opinions of the Czech courts and the European Commission.
ANO Vice President Alena Schillerová said on Sunday that Babiš will take irreversible steps to resolve this conflict, but will not sell Agrofert. “I would like to believe what Alena Schillerová and Andrej Babiš say, but I also think that we should be educated and not buy a rabbit in a bag,” President Pavel told Czech Radio.
He noted that transparency is necessary if he is to appoint a new prime minister with confidence. “Even on the basis of the finding of the Constitutional Court, I am obliged to ask Andrej Babiš how he will resolve his conflict of interests,” he emphasized.
Pavel laid flowers and lit a candle at the Gentle Revolution Memorial on Národná street in Prague on Monday. At the same time, he warned against the voices that, according to him, called for a change of regime before the October elections to the Chamber of Deputies. “I would consider it at the edge of the law; democracy is a system enshrined in our constitution,” he declared, emphasizing the need for dialogue.
