Deputies expressed confidence in the government of Andrej Babiš (ANO) today. During the evening vote in the Chamber of Deputies, all 108 government MPs voted for confidence. On the contrary, all present opposition MPs voted against the confidence. Thus, there were no surprises during the voting.
Deputies decided on the vote of confidence today after more than 100 days since the elections last October, specifically the 103rd day since the parliamentary elections. Four years ago, the House expressed confidence in the then coalition government of Petr Fiala (ODS) on the 96th day after the elections to the lower house.
The vote was preceded by a debate that lasted a total of approximately 26 hours of clear time. It was the longest so far. The current meeting on the confidence of the cabinet took place over three business days.
In the lower house, all 108 MPs of the three coalition parties, i.e. ANO, SPD and Motorists, supported the government. 91 present legislators from the opposition ODS, STAN, Pirátů, KDU-ČSL and TOP 09 spoke against the cabinet. STAN MP Barbora Urbanová, who excused herself from the parliamentary session due to health reasons, did not vote. Doubts about the support were heard from the governing SPD club in recent days due to the government’s decision to continue with the ammunition initiative (we wrote, for example, here). However, Speaker of the House and SPD leader Tomio Okamura finally stated before the vote that all members of the club would support the government.