Right-wing party leader Petr Fiala was appointed Prime Minister of the Czech Republic by President Milos Zeman on Sunday, and will have the first task of fighting the outbreak of Covid-19 raging in the country.
Read alsoThe Czech president leaves the hospital to appoint a new prime minister
Former political science professor Petr Fiala, 57, chairs the right-wing Civic Democrats (ODS) party, which in the Ensemble alliance also comprising the Christian Democrats and the center-right TOP 09 party, won the elections October legislative elections.
"
I am convinced that we will soon have a strong and stable government
", assured Petr Fiala, during an unusual ceremony during which President Zeman, in a wheelchair and suffering from Covid-19, was protected by a plastic barrier .
Milos Zeman underlined that he intended to meet with the future ministers by December 13, "
to prepare from that date the appointment of the government
".
Ensemble narrowly defeated the populist ANO movement of outgoing billionaire prime minister Andrej Babis, and then teamed up with two other centrist parties - the anti-establishment Pirate Party and the Mayors and Independents.
The five parties control 108 seats out of a total of 200 in Parliament.
President Milos Zeman hospitalized with Covid-19
The five parties have already agreed on the composition of the future government and on a general policy statement.
The post-election talks took place after the country's president was hospitalized on October 10, the day after the election, with liver problems which doctors say could be cirrhosis.
Milos Zeman, a 77-year-old leftist politician, pro-Russian and pro-Chinese, was originally scheduled to appoint Petr Fiala last Friday, the day after he was released from the military hospital in Prague.
However, he returned to the hospital the same day he was discharged, Thursday, after testing positive for Covid.
He finally left the hospital on Saturday.
Milos Zeman's office had said Petr Fiala's appointment would take place despite the president's state of health, who should have self-isolated for at least 14 days under Health Ministry rules.
Milos Zeman originally wanted to appoint Andrej Babis, his ally, as prime minister, but the food, chemicals and media mogul, accused of fraud on EU subsidies, said shortly after the elections that he would refuse an offer to form the new government and that he would join the opposition.
The president is expected to appoint the government by mid-December.
This country of 10.7 million EU members is struggling with one of the highest Covid-19 infection rates in the world.
The country on Thursday recorded a record 27,717 new cases - including Milos Zeman - and its hospitals lack capacity to treat the sick.
Some hospitals have started moving patients to less crowded facilities and delaying scheduled surgeries.
The Czech Republic is also grappling with unprecedented growth in energy prices and skyrocketing inflation, which left many people in limbo ahead of the holiday season.
