A Czech government crisis began in May 2017, as a result of suspicions that the

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

Andrej Babiš Andrej Babiš (; born 2 September 1954) is a Czech politician and businessman of Slovak descent who served as the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic from 2017 to 2021. Babis previously served as the Minister of Finance and deputy Prime Minister ...

, also the leader of

ANO 2011 ANO 2011, often shortened to simply ANO ("Yes" in English), the initials meaning Action of Dissatisfied Citizens ( cs, Akce nespokojených občanů), is a populist political party in the Czech Republic. The party was founded by Andrej Babiš. Hi ...

, a partner in the ruling coalition, had evaded taxes related to his business activities.

History

In March 2017, the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...

asked

, leader of

and Minister of Finance, to explain his finances. In April 2017, he stated in a letter that all his financial activities have always been legal. Speaker of the chamber

Jan Hamáček Jan Hamáček (born 4 November 1978) is a Czech politician who was leader of the Czech Social Democratic Party (ČSSD) from February 2018 until October 2021, and minister of the Interior from June 2018 to December 2021. He also served as the spe ...

(

ČSSD The Czech Social Democratic Party ( cs, Česká strana sociálně demokratická, ČSSD, ) is a social-democratic political party in the Czech Republic. Sitting on the centre-left of the political spectrum and holding pro-European views, it is a m ...

) said that he did not consider the explanation sufficient. On 2 May 2017, Prime Minister

Bohuslav Sobotka Bohuslav Sobotka (; born 23 October 1971) is a Czech politician and lawyer who served as the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic from January 2014 to December 2017 and Leader of the Czech Social Democratic Party (ČSSD) from 2010 until his resig ...

(ČSSD) stated that Babiš should resign. Bohuslav Sobotka announced on 2 May that he would resign, leading to the formation of a new cabinet which would not include Babiš. Babiš described Sobotka's decision as a "dirty trick."

Lubomír Zaorálek Lubomír Zaorálek (born 6 September 1956) is a Czech politician, who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs under Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka from 2014 to 2017, and Minister of Culture under Prime Minister Andrej Babiš from 2019 to 2021. ...

and

Milan Chovanec Milan Chovanec (born 31 January 1970) is a Czech politician who served as Minister of the Interior of the Czech Republic in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka from 2014 to 2017 and served as acting Leader of the Czech Social Democrat ...

(both ČSSD) were mentioned as possible replacements for Sobotka as Prime Minister. Sobotka initially planned to submit his resignation to President

Miloš Zeman Miloš Zeman (; born 28 September 1944) is a Czech politician serving as the third and current President of the Czech Republic since 2013. He previously served as the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic from 1998 to 2002. As leader of the Czec ...

on 4 May 2017, but later decided to resign on 20 May, when Zeman returns from a visit to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. However, Zeman proceeded with the resignation ceremony nonetheless, which was considered a humiliation for Sobotka. Sobotka decided not to resign after the ceremony, and on 5 May 2017 he announced that he would instead dismiss Babiš from government. Sobotka's decision was praised by the leaders of

TOP 09 TOP 09 (name derived from cs, Tradice Odpovědnost Prosperita, lit=Tradition Responsibility Prosperity) is a liberal-conservative political party in the Czech Republic, led by Markéta Pekarová Adamová. TOP 09 holds 14 seats in the Chamber of ...

, and KDU–ČSL.

Petr Fiala Petr Fiala (; born 1 September 1964) is a Czech politician and political scientist who has been the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic since November 2021 and leader of the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) since 2014. He previously served as the ...

, leader of ODS, called for a

snap election A snap election is an election that is called earlier than the one that has been scheduled. Generally, a snap election in a parliamentary system (the dissolution of parliament) is called to capitalize on an unusual electoral opportunity or to ...

, and stated that Sobotka's decision would only deepen the crisis. Various politicians stated that the resignation ceremony was shameful for the Czech Republic. Zeman announced on 8 May 2017 that he would not accept Babiš's removal from the government yet, and would make a final decision on his return from China. This decision was criticised by many politicians and lawyers as unconstitutional, as according to the Czech constitution the president should appoint or dismiss ministers on the request of the Prime Minister. On 10 May 2017, a demonstration of 20,000 people was held in Prague against the actions of Zeman and Babiš, and other demonstrations were held around the country. Zeman called a meeting of leaders of coalition parties in

Liberec Liberec (; german: Reichenberg ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 103,000 inhabitants and it is the fifth-largest city in the country. It lies on the Lusatian Neisse, in a basin surrounded by mountains. The city centre is well preser ...

. Sobotka was unable to participate as he had gone to Luxembourg on 10 May, but Zeman met Chovanec, Babiš and

Pavel Bělobrádek Pavel Bělobrádek (; born 25 December 1976) is a Czech politician who was the leader of the KDU-ČSL from 2010 to 2019. He served as the deputy prime minister and minister of Science and Research in Bohuslav Sobotka's Cabinet Cabinet of Bohus ...

. Zeman presented the two possible solutions to the crisis as a new election, or a new government without Sobotka or Babiš. ANO 2011 stated that they were prepared to discuss a government that would not include Sobotka or Babiš. ČSSD and KDU-ČSL stated that they would consider a government without ANO.

References

{{Miloš Zeman 2017 in the Czech Republic Czech Social Democratic Party ANO 2011 Protests in the Czech Republic Protests in the European Union Government of the Czech Republic

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places *Czech, ...

Andrej Babiš