Prague, May 18 (CTK) – The Presidential Office has received the proposal for the appointment of MP Ivan Pilny (ANO) as finance minister and President Milos Zeman should take action in line with the constitution, Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka (Social Democrats, CSSD) said on Twitter on Thursday.
Zeman returned from a one-week official visit to China last night. Before his departure he said he would deal with the government crisis only after his return.
Sobotka sent the proposal to sack Babis to Zeman on May 5, but Zeman has kept Babis in the post to date. On Wednesday, Sobotka said he can see no reason why Zeman should delay Pilny’s appointment.
Sobotka said Babis would be sacked because of his suspected tax evasion and abusing the media he owned. Babis dismissed the suspicions.
Before his trip to China, Zeman said he would sack Babis after the ANO movement approves of it and after the name of Babis’s replacement is known. Babis said on Wednesday that he would ask Zeman to meet the proposals for his replacement with Pilny.
Zeman’s spokesman said during the visit in China that the president would present his stance on the situation next Tuesday. However, Sobotka said Zeman should meet the proposals for personnel changes in the government immediately after his return from China. He showed readiness to challenge the president’s actions at the Constitutional Court, if Zeman did not act accordingly.
