Degree of suspicion: Czech government finally set to take power despite last-minute hitch over qualifications

At long last, the new Prague administration will be sworn in this week, reports William Nattrass

New Czech prime minister Petr Fiala (Reuters)

The Czech Republic’s new five-party coalition government has had a difficult birth, but the resolution of a bitter dispute with controversial president Miloš Zeman which had raised the possibility of a constitutional lawsuit, means the long-awaited new cabinet will finally be named this Friday.

After general elections held on 8-9 October, a coalition of two opposition groups – the three-party Spolu (Together) alliance and a partnership of the Czech Pirate Party with a group of Mayors and Independents – came together to oust billionaire leader Andrej Babiš’s Ano party.

Yet the hospitalisation of Czech president Miloš Zeman just after the vote delayed the transfer of power for weeks, and in recent days another constitutional crisis loomed as Zeman refused to accept incoming prime minister Petr Fiala’s nomination for foreign minister.