Almost half of Czechs back post-election moves of Babiš and Zeman, suggests survey

Almost half of Czechs agree with the post-election moves of Andrej Babiš, chairman of the winning ANO party, and President Miloš Zeman, suggests an opinion poll conducted for the iRozhlas.cz news site by the Median agency last week. Mr. Babiš is working on forming a minority government and the head of state has promised him two attempts at winning approval for such a government in the Chamber of Deputies.

Some 49 percent of respondents in the survey said that they approved the actions of Mr. Babiš since his party took almost 30 percent of the vote in elections last month. Support for Mr. Zeman’s approach stands at 46 percent, the poll suggests.

Critics say that the pair are working in cahoots and that Mr. Zeman is giving Mr. Babiš more leeway than is traditional. For his part, the president says he has a creative approach to using the Constitution.

The newly elected Chamber of Deputies is due to convene for the first time on Monday.

Author: Ian Willoughby