Czech government survives no-confidence vote

PRAGUE: The Czech minority government led by the populist ANO party on Thursday survived a vote of no confidence called by the opposition, after a series of public protests against Prime Minister Andrej Babis.

Babis, a billionaire turned politician, has faced pressure from investigations into alleged fraud in tapping EU subsidies and conflicts of interest over ties to his former business empire, one of the largest in the central European EU nation.

The result of the vote was expected after ANO’s coalition partner, the center-left Social Democrats, and the Communist party, which has also been backing the government, both declined to join opposition parties to oust Babis.