ČTK

TOP 09 Head Miroslav Kalousek Fears Constitutional Coup by ANO

Prague, Nov 20 (CTK) – The Czech election-winning ANO wants to present a draft policy statement of its minority government to parties in parliament after presenting it to President Milos Zeman, ANO head Andrej Babis said today, adding that ANO could not form a majority cabinet because other parties refuse to ally with it.

 

“If you are interested in a girl and if she declined your overtures ten times, would you continue bothering her if she clearly said no?” Babis, the probable new prime minister, said in response to a journalist’s question of whether he will further try to win parties’ support that would enable him to form a majority government.

 

He said this would be time wasting.

 

ANO has staged 21 bilateral meetings since the October 20-21 general election which it comfortably won far ahead of the other eight parties that also entered the Chamber of Deputies.

 

ANO deputies’ group chairman Jaroslav Faltynek said today the meetings brought about a majority consensus on the Chamber of Deputies setup.

 

“We respect the proportional representation system, we respect the way the cards were dealt by voters. We have made concessions for everybody to be relatively satisfied,” Faltynek said.

 

For example, ANO does not seek any post of the lower house deputy chairperson, he said.

 

“We consistently stick to the constitution and the lower house’s order of procedure, said Radek Vondracek, ANO’s candidate for the post of the Chamber of Deputies chairman.

 

He was reacting to the words about a constitutional coup as pronounced by Miroslav Kalousek, head of the TOP 09 party and an arch-rival of Babis and his ANO, earlier today.

 

Kalousek said the Chamber of Deputies’ priority should be to protect the constitution and constitutional principles, and prevent developments amounting to a constitutional coup.

 

“If there is a long-term project of a government ruling without [parliament’s] confidence, it can be compared to a constitutional coup,” Kalousek said.

 

Commenting on his current government-forming negotiations, Babis said they are close to finish. However, he would not comment on the government’s lineup.

 

President Zeman is paying a visit to Russia this week. Babis previously said he wants to complete his minority government’s lineup by the end of November.

 

Afterwards, Zeman plans to hold separate meetings with the nominees for ministerial posts.