An extraordinary meeting at which the opposition, led by the ANO movement, proposed a vote of no confidence in the government of Petro Fiala ended in victory for the government. The opposition, made up of ANO, SPD and the Pirates, gathered 94 votes in favour of the no-confidence motion, but at least 101 votes were needed to bring down the government.
The ANO movement and the SPD initiated the vote by referring to a donation of cryptocurrency worth roughly CZK 1 billion that the Justice Ministry accepted from Jiřikovský, who was convicted in 2017 of embezzlement and other crimes. The so-called bitcoin case, specifically the donation of 468 bitcoins from Tomas Jirikovsky, convicted of criminal activity, which led to the resignation of Justice Minister Pavel Blažek.
Chairwoman of the ANO parliamentary club Alena Schillerová described the case as "government involvement with the underworld" and stressed that such action requires the fall of the cabinet. The debate, which began on Tuesday and lasted over 13 hours, was marked by sharp exchanges.
Prime Minister Petr Fiala said that the case represents "an unnecessary problem that could have been avoided", but he rejected the accusations of unethical behaviour and stressed that responsibility had been invoked by Blažek's resignation. He described the proposal as "another attempt by the opposition to destabilise the country". "The government continues to have confidence and will continue with its program," Fiala said after the vote.
A significant moment of the meeting was the absence of the Minister of Finance Zbyněk Stanjura when discussing the 2025 budget package. Alena Schillerová described his absence as "irresponsible behaviour" and urged him to personally defend his role in the case.
Coalition MPs joined in the criticism and forced his participation in the next meeting. "The finance minister must be present at key budget debates," said the deputy Jan Jakob. Stanjura did not comment on the reasons for his absence.
The Bitcoin case, which resulted in Blažek's resignation on 30 May 2025, is the subject of an investigation by the National Centre against Organised Crime and the Supreme State Prosecutor's Office in Olomouc. Minister of Justice Eva Decroix said that of the half-billion raised from the sale, 235 bitcoins will remain in a reserve account until the criminal proceedings are completed.
gnews.cz - GH
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