PRAGUE – Czech President Petr Pavel has vowed to use his powers to keep the country anchored in NATO and the EU, while signalling he will scrutinise populist front-runner Andrej Babiš’s business ties before granting him a mandate to form a government.
Babiš’s ANO is leading polls ahead of the 3-4 October elections, but most mainstream parties have already ruled out working with him.
That raises the stakes for Pavel, who under Czechia’s constitution appoints the prime minister and cabinet. While parliament must approve any government within 30 days, recent presidents have used those powers assertively, giving Pavel leverage over Babiš’s possible return to office.
ANO is currently polling at 30.9%, ahead of the conservative SPOLU coalition (19.5%). The centrist STAN and far-right SPD are both at 12%, with as many as seven parties likely to enter parliament, leaving coalition building messy.
At a recent public meeting, Pavel said he would press Babiš on how he plans to comply with conflict-of-interest legislation if asked to form a cabinet. The former prime minister still controls Agrofert, a multibillion-euro agro-chemical group, through trust funds. Czech Radio has reported that part of the legal community believes this could bar him from serving as head of government unless he divests.
Babiš has brushed off those concerns. “I have legal experts for this,” he said earlier this week, adding he would comply with Czech and European requirements if appointed prime minister.
Geopolitical test
Pavel’s political test comes with a geopolitical edge.
Speaking at Harvard University on 24 September, Pavel warned it would be “irresponsible” to rule out the danger of a populist or anti-European drift, given the likely change in government composition.
Pavel described ANO as “more or less centrist-populist,” stressing that Babiš is not openly against NATO or the EU. “He understands that the only way we can guarantee our security and prosperity is within these organisations,” the president said, adding that the risk lies with ANO’s potential partners.
Among those potential partners is the far-right SPD, led by Tokyo-born Tomio Okamura, which has repeatedly called for referendums on Czechia’s membership in both NATO and the EU.
In earlier comments to Czech media, Pavel set out a clear threshold: “Anyone who urges that the Czech Republic should leave NATO or the EU harms our country in my eyes. And that is one of the criteria I will take into account when I receive a proposal for any composition of the new government.”
With coalition maths pointing to messy negotiations, how firmly Pavel enforces those red lines could determine not just Babiš’s fate but the direction of Czech foreign policy.
(cs, de)
