PRAGUE:
Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis on Wednesday handed the resignation of his minority government to President Milos Zeman, a political ally who immediately asked the populist billionaire to form another government. Babis?s ANO movement won 76 out of 200 seats in the
Czech parliament in October?s general election, but the Slovak-born chemicals, food and media tycoon failed to woo potential coalition partners who shunned the
mogul charged with EU subsidy fraud. ?I accept your resignation and ask you to make sure the
cabinet will go on until a new
cabinet is named,? ex-communist Zeman told Babis at Prague Castle, his seat. ?I ask you to lead talks on a new
cabinet and I wish you success,? added pro-Russian, pro-Chinese and anti-Muslim Zeman, who is running for his
second term in a tight run-off ending on January 27. Last Friday, parliament stripped Babis of immunity as a lawmaker, allowing the police to investigate his role in the fraud allegations that date back to 2007.
أكثر...