Prague, Dec 19 (CTK) – Czech President Milos Zeman has vetoed an amendment to the law on conflict of interest, his spokesman Jiri Ovcacek wrote on Twitter yesterday, and Zeman said he considers the amendment, referred to as “lex Babis,” being at variance with the country’s constitutional order.
Zeman said the amendment is also at variance with international treaties and that it affects the individual’s freedoms and fundamental rights.
The Chamber of Deputies passed the legislation at the end of last month.
According to the amendment, the firms of billionaire Finance Minister and ANO head Andrej Babis would lose the opportunity to seek most subsidies, public procurement and investment incentives.
The lawmakers will take a new vote on the amendment. Given the result of the previous vote, the Chamber of Deputies is likely to overturn Zeman’s veto.
The Chamber of Deputies will again deal with the bill in January. In September, the Chamber supported it by 135 out of 183 deputies present. In November, it passed the bill with Senate adjustments by the votes of 125 out of 174 deputies present.
The amendment also deals with certain media. It bans future government members to operate radio and television broadcasts and to publish the periodical press.
Babis’s Agrofert holding includes the Mafra media house, the Impuls radio station and the Ocko musical television station.
ANO is considering turning to the Constitutional Court.
Zeman said the debate in the Chamber of Deputies clearly showed that selected provisions of the amendment are aimed at a political rival [Babis] with the aim of weakening him.
“A law in a democratic society cannot have this purpose,” Zeman wrote to Jan Hamacek, chairman of the Chamber of Deputies.
According to the amendment, companies, in which government members have a minimally 25 percent stake, would not be entitled to public procurement, subsidies that are not automatic and investment incentives.
Babis fully owns Agrofert. The restriction could also apply to the Hartenberg fund, which invests his money in health care.
Zeman also wrote that the ability to reach the intended goal with the law is practically zero.
According to the part of the amendment concerning the media, a government member would have to terminate the operation of a television and radio station and the publication of the periodical press within two months of joining the government, or they would have to leave the company. If he did not leave the firm, he would lose voting rights in it.
The restriction, if eventually passed, would also apply to future lawmakers, senators, some regional and local politicians as well as public officials.
The “lex Babis” would take effect on the day of promulgation in the Digest of Laws. If lawmakers override Zeman’s veto, the legislation would probably take effect at the end of January or in early February. The ban on ownership of certain media would only apply to newly appointed government members.
Zeman is ready to turn to the Constitutional Court if the Chamber of Deputies overrides his veto, Zeman’s spokesman Jiri Ovcacek has said.
When making his decision on the veto, Zeman acted in accordance with expert reviews which warned of “the disharmony of the legislation with the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms,” Ovcacek said.
