Suspicions of Nazi sympathies in the government proposed by Andrej Babis. The Czech president raises new objections
Filip Turek Photo: Říhová Michaela / ČTK / Profimedia
The populist ANO party in the Czech Republic proposed on Wednesday the appointment to the government of a right-wing Eurosceptic criticized for making a Nazi salute, complicating efforts to form an executive after last month's elections, reports Reuters, taken by Agerpres.
ANO, led by billionaire Andrej Babis, won the most votes in the October election and is trying to form a cabinet with the far-right, anti-EU and pro-Russian SPD party and the Eurosceptic right-wing Motorists party.
On Wednesday, Babis presented to President Petr Pavel a list of candidates that also includes Filip Turek from the Motorists party, who explained the Nazi salute as a bad joke rather than signaling any affinity with Nazism or racism. He also disputed the authenticity of old social media posts published by the Czech press, in which he appeared to make racist comments.
However, “the president repeated that his objections to Filip Turek as a member of the future government remain,” the office of the president Petr Pavel said in a statement. Pavel, a pro-EU liberal and a strong supporter of Ukraine, has not elaborated on his objections, but has said in the past that Turek should not hold government office if his previous comments are sincere.
Babis, who previously served as prime minister from 2017 to 2021 and hopes to form a government by mid-December, said he would discuss Pavel's objections – which he claims are due to unspecified legal issues – with Motorists party leader Petr Macinka. “We will see what the coalition says about this,” Babis told the press.
Turek, who has not yet commented, has been nominated for the Environment Ministry, a change from an earlier proposal to make him foreign minister.
Pavel declared himself open to the appointment of Babis as prime minister – the first step before the appointment of the entire cabinet – but only after he will communicate to the public how he intends to manage conflicts of interest related to his Agrofert group, one of the largest in the country and in Central Europe, with approximately 30,000 employees in the agricultural, food and chemical industry. Its companies receive EU and national subsidies, as well as public orders, which generates an interest in political and administrative decisions.
Babis reiterated Wednesday that he would announce a plan to do so before his appointment, saying he would eliminate the conflict of interest, but did not say how, saying only that he would not sell his company.
