Prague, March 9 (CTK) – Prime Minister Andrej Babis (ANO) will try to accelerate his talks on a new government he is conducting and he will inform President Milos Zeman about the effort in late March, Babis told journalists after meeting trade union leader Bohumir Dufek today.
Babis said ANO was preparing another meeting with the Social Democrats (CSSD) for next Thursday.
He declined to comment on any changes in the posts of ministers, but he only said that he still reckoned with Justice Minister Robert Pelikan (ANO).
Daily Lidove noviny (LN) writes today that Babis plans to replace Pelikan with the flexible Petr Mlsna as justice minister in his next cabinet, adding that Zeman wants to prevent the extradition of presumed Russian hacker Yevgeniy Nikulin to the USA in this way.
Babis said at the opening meeting of both parties after their recent congress, the Social Democrats had come up with ten programme groups, but eventually they presented a proposal of changes in the government manifesto, which was much bigger.
“They added some things to the manifesto that were not in the groups. Now we have to negotiate with them and put it clearly what is out of the question and what can be discussed,” Babis said.
Zeman said on Thursday he was slightly nervous due to the slow pace of the talks.
Babis said this may be due to his not having all the information.
Babis said he would like to have an agreement on the next government sooner than in June as mentioned by Zeman.
Babis’s current one-party government has not gained confidence in the Chamber of Deputies so he is trying to form a new one.