Czech lawmakers vote to tighten conflict of interest legislation in snub to former populist PM Babis

Lawmakers in the lower house of the Czech Parliament have agreed to tighten the country’s conflict of interest legislation to ban politicians from owning media, in a direct snub to former populist Prime Minister Andrej Babis

Czech Politics (Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Lawmakers in the lower house of the Czech Parliament agreed on Friday to tighten the country’s conflict of interest legislation to ban politicians from owning media, in a direct snub to former populist Prime Minister Andrej Babis.

In the 200-seat house, lawmakers voted 85-79 to amend the current law and prohibit media ownership for members of Parliament, the government and the president.

Babis’ centrist opposition ANO (YES) movement vehemently protested the move and threatened to challenge it at the Constitutional Court. Babis was not present for the vote but later said he was not planning to leave politics for now.

The amendment still requires the approval of the upper house, the Senate, where the governing coalition has a comfortable majority, and then presidential approval.

Babis, one of the country's richest people, was required by law to transfer ownership of his businesses to two trust funds in February 2017. That included two nationwide newspapers and a popular radio station for which some called him the “Czech Berlusconi,” a reference to Italy’s late Prime Minister and billionaire media mogul Silvio Berlusconi.

The new legislation bans such transfers to funds or relatives.

Babis, 68, lost the presidential election to retired army general Petr Pavel earlier this year. His ANO ended up in opposition after losing the 2021 general election.

Despite facing a number of scandals, Babis remains popular. The next parliamentary election is scheduled for 2025.