The winner of the Czech election and leader of the populist party "Action of Dissatisfied Citizens" (known by its Czech acronym ANO) Andrej Babis will be appointed prime minister on December 9, the country's President Petr Pavel announced, quoted by Reuters, after Babis said earlier today that he would transfer his business group "Agrofert" in a trust fund structure with independent management, BTA reported.
Pavel had earlier said he was ready to appoint the 71-year-old election winner immediately after he explained how he would deal with the conflict of interest he would have as head of government and at the same time owner of a large business.
ANO, which is part of the far-right "Patriots for Europe" group in the European Parliament, won parliamentary elections in October. It formed a government with the far-right, anti-EU and pro-Russian "Freedom and Direct Democracy" party (SPD) and the "Motorists for Their Own" party, which has been campaigning against the EU's carbon-cutting policy.
"The president accepted the decision chosen by Andrej Babis as a public commitment not only to him but to the entire Czech people," the president's office said in a statement.
The new government will take office immediately after the president appoints the ministers nominated by the new prime minister. Pavel has indicated that he is against one of the candidates, but that will not necessarily slow down the process, Reuters notes.
Babiš intends to take office in time to represent the country at the EU summit on December 18-19.