Czech govt survives no-confidence vote in lower house of parliament

The Czech government led by Prime Minster Petr Fiala withstood a no-confidence vote in the lower house of parliament mainly over its handling of the energy crisis.

A total of 184 parliamentarians in the Chamber of Deputies voted on Friday, with 100 supporting the government and 84, including members of the opposition ANO party and Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) party, voting for no-confidence, according to the lower house of parliament. Another 16 parliamentarians did not participate in the voting.

An absolute majority of at least 101 votes in the 200-seat Chamber of Deputies was needed to topple the government, Xinhua news agency reported.

The parliamentary debate lasted over 20 hours, beginning on Thursday afternoon. In addition to a domestic corruption scandal involving the former Head of an intelligence agency, the discussion primarily centered on inflation and what the opposition described as the government's inability to address the rising cost of living properly.

The current Czech government, comprised of a centre-right coalition headed by the Civic Democratic Party (ODS), won its mandate last October after a tight election against the former coalition government led by ANO.

--IANS

int/khz/