Czech President Agrees to Meet Opposition Leader After Ballot

(Bloomberg) -- The Czech president agreed to meet with the head of the Civic Democratic Party, which is leading a group of five political forces that won a majority in last week’s elections and have vowed to replace Prime Minister Andrej Babis.

The meeting with Civic Democratic leader Petr Fiala will take “later,” President Milos Zeman’s spokesman, Jiri Ovcacek, said on Twitter on Wednesday, without elaborating. The president is currently hospitalized in an intensive care unit with unspecified complications of a chronic disease.

Fiala said earlier in the day that he expects to sign a future coalition agreement with the other four parties by Nov. 8.

According to the Czech constitution, Zeman has the right to name a prime minister designate following elections. He has repeatedly pledged to give his ally Babis multiple chances to form a government after the vote.

Babis hasn’t said whether he’ll lead talks if chosen. But he has said he can see his ANO party, which won the most mandates in parliament but is still well short of a majority, surrendering leadership and becoming part of the opposition.

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