Billionaire Czech minister’s party warns government coalition could end

The second-biggest party in the Czech government warned its partners on 21 March 2016 that the ruling coalition could crumble if members of the parliament supported legislation aimed at limiting politicians’ ownership in private companies.

The draft amendment, proposed by a deputy in the ruling Social Democrat party, would force future ministers to choose between giving up ownership in a firm or profiting from it and would also ban government officials from media ownership.

The proposal is part of conflict-of-interest legislation widely seen as targeting Finance Minister Andrej Babiš, a billionaire businessman who founded the ANO movement that sits in government.

ESO: Background information: Three Czech parties form ruling coalition http://www.europeansources.info/record/three-czech-parties-form-ruling-coalition/

Prague Post, 21.03.16: NGOs want answers from Babiš http://www.praguepost.com/czech-news/52361-ngos-want-answers-from-babis

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