PRAGUE - Czech MPs will debate next week a motion of confidence in the coalition government of the ANO movement, the SPD and the Motorists. It is expected that the cabinet of Andrej Babiš (ANO) will receive the vote of confidence. Subsequently, the representatives of the ruling parties intend to discuss in the lower house the bills they have submitted. These include a halt to the rise in social levies on self-employed workers, a freeze on top politicians' salaries and an amendment to the construction law. The first session of the lower house this year will begin on Tuesday morning.
The confidence debate will begin on the 101st day since the House election last October, and is scheduled to be the second item on the agenda. House Speaker Tomio Okamura (SPD) expects the debate to last two sitting days. A majority cabinet of ANO and the SPD and the Motorists could win the support of up to 108 MPs in the 200-member House. The opposition clubs ODS, STAN, Pirates, KDU-ČSL and TOP 09 have a full complement of 92 lawmakers.
The position of Jaroslav Foldyna (SPD) is uncertain, as he is demanding an explanation as to why the coalition decided to continue the ammunition initiative for Ukraine. In the past, some MPs have been absent due to illness during cabinet confidence meetings. However, a vote of confidence in the government requires the votes of a supermajority of the MPs present, unlike a vote of no confidence, for which the proponents must get at least 101 votes.
At the start of the sitting, Members would be able to table amendments to the agenda. The opposition wants to push for the inclusion of a motion in which the House would dissociate itself from Okamura's New Year's speech. In it, Okamura criticised the provision of arms to Ukraine and the leadership of the Ukrainian state. He opposed Ukraine's accession to the European Union and referred to people around President Volodymyr Zelensky as „Ukrainian thieves around the Zelensky junta“. The opposition's initiative to include a new item is expected to fail.
ČTK/ceskenoviny.cz/gnews.cz-jav
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