Czech President Milos Zeman reappointed Ano leader Andrej Babis as prime minister on June 6, in a bid to fill the country’s lengthy political vacuum. 

Babis has headed a minority government since the 2017 general election but lost a confidence vote in January. Since then he has acted as caretaker prime minister, but neither his Ano nor any other party has been able to form a new government. 

Potential partners for Ano such as the Social Democrats (CSSD) have been wary of striking an alliance with the party because of the ongoing investigation into billionaire Babis for EU subsidy fraud. Another government led by Babis will also not go down well with many Czechs; thousands of people protested on June 6 in cities across the country as Zeman’s plans were revealed in the media. There is anger that the government will benefit from Communist support.

Zeman said on June 6 that a new government could be appointed by the end of June, Reuters reported. Earlier, local media said Babis would have until June 20 to present his cabinet. 

However, it is still unclear whether Babis will manage to form a new coalition with the CSSD. The centre-left party has reached a tentative coalition deal with the centre-right Ano, and some names of proposed cabinet nominees have leaked out, but they must be approved in an intra-party referendum. 

Even with the support of the CSSD, an Ano-led government would have just 93 MPs in the 200-seat lower house of parliament, meaning they would need backing from the Communists. 

Despite the protests against Babis’ reappointment, however, polls show that support for Ano has remained relatively steady for the last three months. The latest, from the Public Opinion Research Center (CVVM), puts Ano on 29%, followed by the centre-right Civic Democrats (ODS) and the CSSD both on 13%.