Babiš government survives no-confidence vote

The minority coalition government of Prime Minister Andrej Babiš (ANO) has survived a no-confidence vote in the Czech lower house, as expected, with the support of the Communists and no defections from MPs in ANO or Social Democrat parties.

After nearly 17 hours of debate that began on Wednesday afternoon, the actual voting took 20 minutes, with the results in shortly before 4:30 a.m. on Thursday.

Opposition parties had tabled the motion after a preliminary European Commission audit found Mr. Babiš to be in conflict of interest in connection his business affairs.

It was the second time that the Babiš government, which was appointed a year ago on Thursday, faced such a challenge in the Chamber of Deputies.

Author: Brian Kenety