Students took to the streets in at least 20 Czech cities on December 9 protesting against the takeover of the Ministry of Environment by the anti-green and staunchly Eurosceptic Motorists for Themselves party.

The protests followed the appointment of the billionaire leader of the populist ANO party, Andrej Babiš, as the next Czech prime minister on the same day.

After ANO won the October general election in October, Babiš signed a coalition agreement with the far-right Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) and the Motorists, forming what could be the most radical rightwing cabinet in the country’s history since WWII.

The country’s liberal President Petr Pavel insisted Babiš solves his conflict of interests stemming from his ownership ties to the Agrofert food and agro-chemical conglomerate before appointing him as the next PM, and last week Babiš announced he would dispose of Agrofert.

“I would like to appreciate again that you have honored the agreement we had together regarding the public announcement of solving the conflict of interests,” Pavel stated following the appointment of Babiš, adding that “I trust that you will complete this matter successfully in the next 30 days as the law prescribes.”

When appointing Babiš, who is also standing trial in a subsidy fraud case, Pavel stressed, in a statement shared by Czech Radio (CRo) and other media, that the country is “in [a] security and economic context which is not easy” and that not just “vision, but also courage and not doubting our ties in the EU and Nato” will be required.

ANO made a sharp shift to national conservative waters when it became one of the founding parties of the Patriots for Europe grouping in the European Parliament after winning the European Parliament elections last June. 

SPD, which advocates Czexit, had to commit to Czechia's EU and Nato memberships in the coalition document, but party leader Tomio Okamura demonstrated a closer alignment with the left-right government of Slovakia's populist Prime Minister Robert Fico during his visit to Bratislava earlier this month. Okamura is the chairman of the new Czech parliament, where ANO, the SPD and the Motorists wield a majority of 108.

Okamura made more critical comments against the EU in Bratislava and said “we want to look for support across states in our Central European region of Visegrad [V4], V4+ for themes such as rejection of emission [trading units] ETS2.”

Okamura faces criminal investigation over his racist anti-immigration campaign, and the SPD had to nominate non-party members to the cabinet in what is seen as Babiš’ effort to scale down further potential controversies stemming from the SPD’s presence in the government, as well as exercise firmer control of the incoming government, which Pavel is expected to sign in on December 15.

Pavel already met with SPD nominees, general Jaromír Zůna, Slovak Railroad company boss Ivan Bednárik and ex-CEO of the state agricultural fund Martin Šebestyán to the defence, transportation and agriculture portfolios, respectively, who could all strengthen the influence of populist and nationalist camps.

Zůna has reportedly enjoyed good ties with nationalist Czech ex-president Miloš Zeman, while Šebestyán faces criticism he could merely act as a proxy for Babiš to secure Agrofert’s interest in the agriculture sector.   

Anti-corruption watchdogs already warned that Babiš may not solve his conflict of interests even by disposing of Agrofert into a blind trust, as he announced, and the opposition Pirate Party vowed to raise the issue with the European Commission and ask whether Babiš’s move is in line with EU legislation.

The Motorists' controversy-stricken cabinet nominee Filip Turek is missing from the cabinet lineup due to illness, but Pavel previously said he would reject Turek following a scandal over Turek’s racist, sexist and homophobic online comments.

Motorists leader Petr Macinka, who has repeatedly cast doubt on human involvement in climate change, remains the nominee for the foreign affairs and environmental portfolios while Turek is ill. Students threatened during the protests on December 9 that Motorists nominee appointment to head the Ministry of Environment could lead to country-wide student strikes.  

Students also protested against the influence of coal baron Pavel Tykač over the Motorists party. Tykač took over from Czech financial group PPF as the largest sponsor of the think-tank of ex-president and ex-PM Václav Klaus, who backs the Motorists and the SPD. Macinka worked as a secretary at the think-tank.