The new Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic will meet for the first time on 3 November, negotiations continue

Prague - The newly elected Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic will meet for the first time on Monday 3 November at 2 pm. In accordance with the Rules of Procedure, the constituent meeting was convened by former Deputy Speaker Věra Kovářová (STAN), who will chair the meeting until a new Speaker is elected. President Petr Pavel had earlier set this date as the date for the opening of the lower house session.

The first sitting will be mainly ceremonial and organisational: after the opening speech and the swearing-in of the deputies, the proceedings will continue with the election of the Electoral Commission and the establishment of the Mandate and Immunity Committee, which will prepare the election of the House leadership. Usually, representatives of the largest parties forming a government majority compete for the chairmanship.

At the same time, intensive post-election negotiations are taking place between the victorious ANO movement, the SPD and the Motorists for Ourselves movement. Negotiators have started programmatic debates on the finance, industry and defence portfolios and have not yet identified any major differences. Still, analysts warn that disputes may arise over the budget deficit and regulation of the motor industry.

Another line of discussion concerns the distribution of seats on the committees of the Chamber of Deputies: according to current information, ANO should chair five committees, the SPD three and the Motorists two. This reflects the preliminary side of the government majority and gives the stronger entity more influence in the creation of legislation.

From the perspective of the eventual government, it will be crucial when the President entrusts the chair of the victorious ANO party, Andrej Babiš, with the task of forming a government and whether the proposed coalition will win the confidence of the Chamber of Deputies. The final form of the new government will probably become clear only after the constituent meeting of the House and the adoption of the programme declaration.

gnews.cz - GH