New Czech cabinet to ask lawmakers for confidence around Feb. 18
Baku, January 31 (AZERTAC). The new Czech government of Bohuslav Sobotka (Social Democrats, CSSD) will ask the Chamber of Deputies for confidence around February 18, Sobotka said after the cabinet's first meeting today.
President Milos Zeman appointed the three-party government of the CSSD, the ANO movement and Christian Democrats (KDU-CSL), that has a 111-vote majority in the 200-seat lower house of parliament.
The new government also debated the preparation of its legislative plan and policy statement today.
The next government meeting is scheduled for 10:00 on Monday.
The new government must ask the Chamber of Deputies for confidence within a one-month deadline.
However, Sobotka said after the meeting his cabinet would ask the lower house for confidence so that the extraordinary session with this point on its agenda could be held as of February 18.
It would be up to the Chamber of Deputies' chairman to convoke the session.
"All deputies should have the government policy statement at their disposal two days ahead of the vote of confidence," Sobotka noted.
Sobotka's team agreed on the preparation of its policy statement and legislative plan.
It will form a working group, in which each party will have two representatives, to prepare the policy statement to be submitted to deputies.
The legislative plan will be completed in March at the latest, Sobotka said.
The cabinet would primarily like to push through the abolition of patients' health care fees, pensions' indexation and measures to improve the state tax revenues as of next year, Sobotka added.
The cabinet agreed to keep the tradition to meet on Wednesdays. Only if the Chamber of Deputies is in session on Wednesday, they will meet on Monday, Sobotka said.
At its next meeting on Monday, the government is to decide which of the bills submitted by the previous caretaker cabinet of Jiri Rusnok it will withdraw from the legislative process and on which it will insist on the contrary.
The first government's meeting was quick and constructive, he said.
Deputy PM for the economy and Finance Minister Andrej Babis (ANO chairman) also praised it.
Enthusiasm of many government members, who were glad they would finally start working, was apparent, another Deputy PM Pavel Belobradek (KDU-CSL) said, hinting at the fact that the government was appointed 95 days after the late-October early general election.
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