Czech Republic: Zeman cedes on new cabinet
There has been a surprising turn of events in the dispute over the new government in Prague: with the threat that he would lodge a constitutional complaint, future prime minister Petr Fiala has forced President Miloš Zeman to appoint his entire line-up of ministers - including Jan Lipavský (of the Pirate Party), whom Zeman had determined was not qualified to be foreign minister. Commentators look forward to a government that can finally start to govern.
PM Fiala taking charge
Hospodářské noviny lists several reasons to rejoice:
“The waiting is over, and the Czech Republic will finally have a legitimate government. Prime Minister Fiala has proven to be a true leader with firm principles. The Czech Republic has been reaffirmed as a parliamentary democracy. Zeman's years of skilful attempts to transform the political regime into a semi-presidential crypto-system in which the president officially has hardly any powers but is in fact a key political player feared by all have failed. And when push came to shove the new governing coalition remained strong and did not begin to crumble - even in the face of a power-hungry president.”
The judiciary is not needed here
Echo24 is glad that Prime Minister Fiala didn't have to appeal to the Czech Republic's Constitutional Court to change Zeman's mind:
“Settling a political dispute through a lawsuit and leaving one part of policy to the court would have been fatal for politics. It would have been tantamount to handing over power to the judiciary. Then we'd have to have another discussion about a sort of judicial democracy. That, however, would have been a failure on the part of the political power.”