Czech government approves prime minister's resignation

The government of Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis has agreed to resign, local media reported on Thursday.

It comes after a power-sharing agreement was signed to form a new coalition government by two center-right parties that won the most votes in October's parliamentary polls.

Babis said he sent his letter of resignation to President Milos Zeman who is currently being treated in hospital.

The outgoing prime minister took to Twitter to announce that his cabinet had followed through with the resignation in accordance with the constitution. 

Babis had hoped to secure another term in office but was narrowly defeated by the opposition in the October election.

Once the offer of resignation has been accepted, Babis's government will continue serving until the new coalition government is formally appointed.

Czech Republic's incoming coalition government

On Tuesday Zeman announced that he had asked Petr Fiala, head of the center-right coalition, to lead negotiations with "the goal of forming a new government."

Fiala heads the three-party coalition Together (Civic Democratic Party, Christian Democrats, TOP 09 party), which garnered 27.8% of the October vote.

On Monday, the coalition formally agreed to work in concert with the center-left Pirate Party and the independent collective STAN, which took a combined 15.6% of the vote.

The bloc will hold 108 of 200 seats in the lower house of the Czech Republic's parliament.

Babis and his populist ANO Party, which took 27.1% of the October vote, will now be relegated to the opposition. 

kb/aw (Reuters)