Czech Republic: court backs president against PM
In the Czech Republic, the dispute between the right-wing populist government led by Andrej Babiš and the country's president, Petr Pavel, who comes from the pro-European opposition camp, has escalated again. The government tried to bar the head of state and commander-in-chief of the armed forces from travelling to the Nato summit in Ankara, but Pavel appealed to the Constitutional Court and won the case. The affair prompts the press to reflect on the separation of powers.
This is about the foundations of the state
For Forum24 one thing is clear:
“This is not merely a dispute over participation in a single Nato summit. It's about the relationship between political representatives and the institutions of a democratic state. The Constitutional Court is not a political opponent of the government or the opposition. It is not an adversary that can be accused of declaring war simply because it makes a decision that someone doesn't like. It is a key institution entrusted with safeguarding the constitutional order of the Czech Republic. Anyone who attacks it with rhetoric drawn from political and authoritarian campaigns undermines citizens' trust in the very foundations of the rule of law.”
A defeat for the government
Info.cz has a gloating message for Prime Minister Babiš and Foreign Minister Macinka:
“Because of your completely unnecessary aggression towards the president, you have now suffered the most crushing defeat of your political careers. Worse than losing an election, worse than criminal proceedings, worse than a conflict of interest. Because as it turns out, all your power has crumbled to dust. The president, whom you and your cronies sought to humiliate, trample into the ground and drag through the mud, is now celebrating a triumph over you. Perhaps this will stir up even more anger within your coalition, but to be guided by that would be a bad idea.”