Czech president Petr Pavel said on Thursday, December 4th, that he would appoint Andrej Babiš as premier on December 9th—after the businessman vowed to resolve a potential conflict of interest by offloading his Agrofert holding.
Babiš’s right-wing ANO won the most seats in a general election in October and teamed up with other parties, including the SPD and the Motorists for a 108-vote majority in the 200-seat parliament.
President Pavel, who has been meeting ministerial candidates since last month, said the explanation was “comprehensible” and that he was in no position to “examine it any further.”
“I have decided to appoint him prime minister on Tuesday, December 9th,” Pavel said on X. Having already formally tapped Babiš to negotiate forming a government in late October, the president explained.“
This way, I will acknowledge the general election result and the progress in talks on a coalition government.
On the same day, Babiš—who already served as Czech premier in 2017-2021—said he would entrust Agrofert to an independent administrator for now, and that his children will inherit the holding after his death.
