Czech Senate declares President Zeman incapable of performing his duties

Published on : 10/18/2021 – 9:39 PM

Czech President Milos Zeman is unable to carry out his duties due to his state of health, and parliament must prepare to vote on the transfer of his powers, according to the Constitution, the president of the Czech Republic said on Monday (October 18th). Czech Senate.

“The University Military Hospital maintains that President Milos Zeman is unable to perform his duties due to his medical condition,” said Milos Vystrcil, citing the hospital’s written response to a Senate request.

Milos Zeman, 77, was hospitalized in intensive care on October 10, the day after the parliamentary elections. His absence, while the president is constitutionally charged with appointing the new head of government, blocks the outcome of this election which saw the outgoing Prime Minister, the populist billionaire Andrej Babis, lose by a short head to two coalitions bringing together five liberal, centrist and right-wing parties.

“Given the nature of his illness, the long-term prognosis for his state of health is seen as very uncertain,” added the President of the Senate.

“The possibility that he will resume his duties in the coming weeks is considered unlikely,” he added.

Liver problems and diabetic neuropathy

Milos Vystrcil said it was time to “discuss when and how Article 66 of the Constitution will be activated”, which allows parliament to declare the president “unable to perform his duties” and to hand over his powers to the Prime Minister. outgoing minister and the president of the lower house of the new parliament, who will appoint the next head of government.

According to Czech media, Milos Zeman is suffering from serious liver problems, due to his alcohol consumption.

According to his doctors, he had diabetic neuropathy and hearing problems, he had been moving with a cane for many years, and in a wheelchair for a few months.

This man with white hair and big build, heavy smoker and heavy drinker, became in 2013 the first Czech president elected by direct universal suffrage, before being re-elected in 2018 for a second five-year term.

A veteran of the populist left, he has also displayed pro-Russian, pro-Chinese and anti-immigration positions.

Thursday, while he had been hospitalized for five days in intensive care, his spokesperson had announced that he was convening the first session of the new Parliament for November 8.

Outgoing Prime Minister Andrej Babis, who first asserted that the head of state, shortly before his emergency hospitalization, had promised him on Sunday to appoint him to form a new government, gave up on Friday and announced that he would go into opposition.

This waiver gives the field free to Petr Fiala, the head of the center-right alliance Ensemble, which narrowly won the election, to be appointed Prime Minister.

In coalition with an alliance of two centrist parties, Ensemble has an absolute majority in the lower house of parliament, with 108 of the 200 seats.

With AFP