Czech Prime Minister resigns

prague - The Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka has postponed his resignation request for his cabinet until mid-May. That gives him time to work on a solution. The government coalition was surprisingly different on Tuesday, less than six months before the next parliamentary elections.

Reason to pull out was a tough dispute with Finance Minister Andrej Babis. This billionaire is the founder and leader of the ANO party, which sells against the established order. Sobotka wants to form a new government without Babis, whose business practices are under discussion, even if that means he has to take his place.

One possibility is that the Social Democrat Lubomir Zaoralek or Milan Chovanec, Sobotka's party fellow, will be the new prime minister. President Milos Zeman, who has to decide on that, said Thursday evening that these Foreign and Interior Ministers are potential candidates. The Christian Democrat Pavel Belobradek could also.