Prague, June 16 (CTK) – The Czech government ANO movement will vote against the 2017 state budget if its deficit exceeds 60 billion crowns on which the coalition parties have agreed, Finance Minister and ANO chairman Andrej Babis said in an interview with DVTV on Thursday.
He also indicated that the budget might be one of the causes for ANO to withdraw from the coalition agreement.
However, even after it, ANO intends to stay in the coalition government with the Social Democrats (CSSD) and Christian Democrats (KDU-CSL).
“I will vote against it if the deficit is over 60 billion crowns… and ANO movement will vote with me,” Babis told DVTV.
However, ANO would not leave the government in such a case.
“Why should I leave [the government]? There would be a stopgap budget situation and they all would be coming to me and I would be making decisions,” Babis told DVTV.
Babis threatened with withdrawing from the coalition agreement once before this week, over the controversial police reform, which caused a rift in the coalition.
But even though Interior Minister Milan Chovanec (CSSD) signed the decision on the planned police restructuring, ANO did not withdraw from the coalition deal. It announced it would like to discuss its new form.
Police President Tomas Tuhy does not enjoy the trust of ANO that insists on his resignation, Babis said, calling Tuhy “a puppet” of Chovanec.
The police restructuring is Chovanec’s fraud, Babis added.
Babis also told DVTV that he considered the post of finance minister “the bottom of his career.” Relations in the coalition are bad, he said, adding that he does not trust PM and CSSD chairman Bohuslav Sobotka.
He said he and Sobotka came from different worlds. “For Sobotka, this [PM’s post] is the peak of his career, for me it is the bottom of my career that I am the finance minister in such a government,” Babis said.
Until Sobotka’s return from a working visit to China, ANO wants to think over the commitments that the new coalition agreement should include. Lawyers will work out the respective proposal, Babis added.
The ministers are to debate the 2017 budget next week again. They postponed the debate on Wednesday.
The Finance Ministry projects the deficit at 48.5 billion crowns in its first draft.
It points out that the expenditures can be raised by 11.5 billion crowns to meet the coalition agreement.
“I do not want to anticipate anything, we will see how it turns out with the budget,” Babis said.
