Andrej Babiš' Second Cabinet

Andrej Babiš' second Cabinet is a centre-left to centre-right minority coalition government, consisting of ANO 2011, a centre-right populist political movement, and the centre-left Czech Social Democratic Party (ČSSD) with external support from the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSČM).[1][2] The head of government is Andrej Babiš, leader of ANO.

Second Cabinet of Andrej Babiš

23rd Cabinet of the Czech Republic
Incumbent
Andrej Babiš, Prime Minister
Date formed27 June 2018
People and organisations
Head of stateMiloš Zeman
Head of governmentAndrej Babiš
Deputy head of governmentJan Hamáček
Richard Brabec(2017-2019)
No. of ministers15
Total no. of ministers17
Member partiesANO (10 ministers)
ČSSD (5 ministers)
Status in legislatureMinority coalition:
92 / 200

Supported by:
15 / 200
Opposition partiesOpposition:
93 / 200
History
Election(s)2017 Czech legislative election
PredecessorAndrej Babiš' First Cabinet

The cabinet was approved by the Chamber of Deputies on 12 July 2018 with a 105-91 vote.[3]

Background

The general election in 2017 was won by ANO, led by Andrej Babiš, who received 78 seats out of 200, becoming the largest party.[4] President Miloš Zeman appointed Babiš to form a government with other parties,[5] but all other parliamentary parties had ruled out forming a coalition government with ANO due to a police investigation into Babiš's alleged subsidy fraud.[6][7] In early 2018, Babiš lost a confidence vote when other parties voted against an ANO-minority government.[7] In 2018, ČSSD decided to hold coalition talks with ANO.[8] In April, the negotiations broke down.[9] President Miloš Zeman subsequently gave Babiš a second chance to form a government.[10] In May, ČSSD accepted talks with ANO, with KSČM also participating in talks to determine the conditions for its support of an ANO-ČSSD government.[11][12][13]

Government formation

The cabinet consists of two coalition parties. ANO, the senior coalition partner in the government, has 10 ministers (including Prime Minister). The Social Democrats have four ministers and hold five ministries, due to the refusal of Czech President Miloš Zeman to appoint Miroslav Poche, the party's nominee for Foreign Minister. Jan Hamáček was appointed as temporary Foreign Minister.[14]

The coalition holds 93 seats in the Chamber of Deputies, eight seats short of a simple majority of 101 seats. The coalition therefore requires the support of another party to provide confidence and supply. KSČM agreed to support the minority government in exchange for cabinet support for several of their demands.[15] With KSČM support, the government controls a majority of 108 seats. On June 15, 2018, following a party referendum,[16] ČSSD formed a coalition with ANO.

The cabinet was approved by the Chamber of Deputies in the early morning of 12 July 2018 with a 105-91 vote, during a parliamentary session which had begun the previous morning.[3] During the debate, deputies from TOP 09 left the Chamber in protest (they later returned to vote against the government) while some deputies from the Christian and Democratic Union – Czechoslovak People's Party unfurled a soviet flag to protest against the government being supported by the Communist Party. Protests also took place in the streets of Prague against the role of the Communists in the government.

Resignations over plagiarism

Shortly after the formation of the cabinet, two ministers – Taťána Malá of ANO and Petr Krčál of ČSSD – resigned after being accused of plagiarism in their bachelor theses.[17]

On July 24, 2018, another minister, Lubomír Metnar (Independent for ANO) also came under suspicion of plagiarism in his diploma thesis.[18]

Cabinet members

Portfolio Minister Party Office
Took Left
Prime Minister Andrej Babiš ANO 6 June 2018 Incumbent
First Deputy Prime Minister
Minister of Interior
Jan Hamáček ČSSD 27 June 2018 Incumbent
Deputy Prime Minister Richard Brabec ANO 27 June 2018[note 1] 30 April 2019
Alena Schillerová Ind. for ANO 30 April 2019 Incumbent
Karel Havlíček Ind. for ANO 30 April 2019 Incumbent
Minister of Foreign Affairs Jan Hamáček (acting) ČSSD 27 June 2018 15 October 2018
Tomáš Petříček 16 October 2018 Incumbent
Minister of Finance Alena Schillerová Ind. for ANO 27 June 2018[note 2] Incumbent
Minister of Health Adam Vojtěch Ind. for ANO 27 June 2018[note 2] Incumbent
Minister of the Environment Richard Brabec ANO 27 June 2018[note 1] Incumbent
Minister of Labour and Social Affairs Petr Krčál ČSSD 27 June 2018 18 July 2018[19]
Jana Maláčová 30 July 2018[20] Incumbent
Minister of Industry and Trade Marta Nováková ANO 27 June 2018 30 April 2019
Karel Havlíček Ind. for ANO 30 April 2019 Incumbent
Minister of Justice Taťána Malá ANO 27 June 2018 10 July 2018[21]
Jan Kněžínek Ind. for ANO 10 July 2018[22] 30 April 2019[23]
Marie Benešová Ind. for ANO 30 April 2019[23] Incumbent
Minister of Education, Youth and Sport Robert Plaga ANO 27 June 2018[note 2] Incumbent
Minister of Defence Lubomír Metnar Ind. for ANO 27 June 2018 Incumbent
Minister of Transport Dan Ťok Ind. for ANO 27 June 2018[note 3] 30 April 2019[note 2]
Vladimír Kremlík Ind. for ANO 30 April 2019[note 2] Incumbent
Minister for Regional Development Klára Dostálová Ind. for ANO 27 June 2018[note 2] Incumbent
Minister of Agriculture Miroslav Toman Ind. for ČSSD 27 June 2018 Incumbent
Minister of Culture Antonín Staněk ČSSD 27 June 2018 31 July 2019
Lubomír Zaorálek ČSSD 27 August 2019[24] Incumbent

Support for governing parties according to the popular vote.

Member party Popular vote Percentage MPs Ministers Leader
ANO 1,500,113 29.64% 78 10 Andrej Babiš
ČSSD 368,347 7.27% 15 5 Jan Hamáček
Government 1,868,460 36.91% 93 15 Andrej Babiš
KSČM 393,100 7.76% 15 0 Vojtěch Filip
Govt. & support 2,261,560 44.67% 108 15 Andrej Babiš
Czech Republic 5,091,065 100% 200

Confidence motion

Motion of confidence
Andrej Babiš (ANO)
Ballot → 11 July 2018
Required majority → 99 out of 196 (simple) Y
105 / 200
91 / 200
Abstentions
0 / 200
4 / 200
Sources:[25]

Notes

  1. since 29 January 2014 as Minister of the Environment within Bohuslav Sobotka's Cabinet and Andrej Babiš' First Cabinet, since 24 May 2017 as Deputy PM within Bohuslav Sobotka's Cabinet and Andrej Babiš' First Cabinet
  2. since 13 December 2017 within Andrej Babiš' First Cabinet
  3. since 4 December 2014 within Bohuslav Sobotka's Cabinet and Andrej Babiš' First Cabinet

References

  1. "ČSSD v referendu schválila vládu s ANO. Babiš však ještě nemá vyhráno". iDNES.cz. 2018-06-15. Retrieved 2018-06-24.
  2. "Babiš je podruhé premiérem. Hájil, že vláda bude opřená o komunisty". iDNES.cz. 2018-06-06. Retrieved 2018-06-24.
  3. "Czech government wins confidence vote backed by Communists". Arab News. 12 July 2018. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  4. "Billionaire candidate wins Czech election". 22 October 2017 via www.bbc.com.
  5. Editorial, Reuters. "Police charge Czech PM candidate Babis with subsidy fraud".
  6. Editorial, Reuters. "Czech Babis gains possible support in bid for minority government".
  7. Muller, Robert. "Czech PM Babis battles fraud charges as cabinet loses confidence vote".
  8. Editorial, Reuters. "Czech PM will talk exclusively to social democrats on new government".
  9. "Czech coalition talks break down". www.msn.com. Archived from the original on 2018-06-16. Retrieved 2018-09-03.
  10. "Czech president gives Andrej Babis 2nd chance to form gov't".
  11. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/czech-leftwing-party-returns-to-coalition-talks/ar-AAw7ANd_%5B%5D
  12. Editorial, Reuters. "Czech PM Babis wants deal on ministries this week in renewed govt..."
  13. https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2018-06-15/czech-center-left-party-agrees-to-join-government
  14. "Prezident jmenoval vládu bez Pocheho. Půjde ji osobně podpořit před poslance". iDNES.cz. 2018-06-27. Retrieved 2018-06-27.
  15. "Opposition move could end Czech wait for government". amp.ft.com.
  16. https://www.cssd.cz/data/files/vnitrostranicke-referendum-o-vstupu-do-vlady.pdf
  17. Second minister resigns over allegations of plagiarism
  18. https://zpravy.idnes.cz/lubomir-metnar-ministr-obrany-diplomova-prace-zdroje-rezignace-pww-/domaci.aspx?c=A180724_193836_domaci_hm1
  19. Zeman Accepts Krcal’s Resignation, Will Appoint Malacova Next Week
  20. Incoming labour minister to propose higher parental leave benefit
  21. televize, Česká. "Ministryně spravedlnosti Malá odstoupí z funkce, obvinění ale považuje za kampaň". ČT24 - Nejdůvěryhodnější zpravodajský web v ČR - Česká televize (in Czech). Retrieved 2018-07-09.
  22. "News site: Jan Kněžínek to become justice minister". Czech Radio. Retrieved 2018-07-10.
  23. "Doprava, spravedlnost a průmysl mají nové ministry, vláda nové vicepremiéry". ČT24 (in Czech). Retrieved 2019-04-30.
  24. "Kultura má opět ministra, prezident jmenoval Lubomíra Zaorálka". ČT24 (in Czech). Retrieved 2019-04-30.
  25. "Hlasování Poslanecké sněmovny - 17/7". www.psp.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 2018-07-12.
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