Prague, May 24 (CTK) – The Czech Chamber of Deputies approved today a proposal by the senior government Social Democrats (CSSD) to set up a commission of investigation into a possible leak of information from police files aimed against outgoing Finance Minister Andrej Babis (ANO).
Every deputy group is to have one representative on the seven-member commission, which is to submit the result of its work to the plenum of the Chamber of Deputies by the end of August.
Babis told CTK that this is a continuation of a campaign against him and another example of a pact between the Social Democrat (CSSD) head and Prime Minister, Bohuslav Sobotka, and Miroslav Kalousek, former finance minister, who heads the opposition conservative TOP 09.
The Chamber of Deputies set up the commission on the CSSD’s proposal.
A leak of information from an open file was talked about in connection with a recording, in which Babis and a journalist from his former daily, Mlada fronta Dnes (MfD), feature.
Babis has repeatedly dismissed the claims that he probably got the document from the journalist.
Babis, who will be replaced by Ivan Pilny (ANO) as finance minister today, owned the Agrofert holding, part of which are some media, until February, when he transferred it to trustee funds to comply with an amended law on conflict of interest.
The commission of investigation is to check suspected illegal steps taken in connection with the possible unjustified gaining of documents from law enforcement bodies.
It is also to focus on whether the data from the files may have been abused to influence political rivals or destabilise the democratic rule of law.
The creation of the commission was supported by 82 out of 130 deputies present, 36 were against. They were mainly members of ANO, Dawn and a part of the government Christian Democrats (KDU-CSL).
The recordings that appeared on an anonymous Twitter account under the name of Julius Suman are being checked by the police.
Babis uses dirty words about government members, including Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka (Social Democrats, CSSD) in the recordings, and discusses the releasing of compromising material with the journalist.
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