June 13, 2021 Share
On June 3, 2021, the Czech coalition government led by populist Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, survived a vote of no-confidence. which was initiated by opposition groups after the two-party ruling coalition comprising Babiš’s ANO 2011 (ANO) and the Czech Social Democratic Party (Česká Strana Sociálne Demokratická: CSSD) lost its working majority when the far-left Communist party (Komunistická Strana Čech a Moravy: KSCM) discontinued its official support in April, 2021. Only 89 of the opposition lawmakers voted at the end of an almost 14-hour session to oust the Cabinet, well short of the 101 needed in the 200-seat lower house. The Communists refused to vote against the government, left the lower house and didn’t participate in the debate and the vote.
Supreme state attorney Pavel Zeman, who has held the post for over a decade, is stepping down on June 30. He told reporters he felt pressured by the Minister of Justice, Marie Benešová, who last week threatened him with a disciplinary charge for having spoken to reporters about the 2014 blast in Vrbětice.
Benešová said she did not expect the resignation, which came in a letter to the cabinet, but respected his decision. No replacement has yet been appointed. Zeman replaced Renata Vesecká as supreme state attorney in 2011.