Czech Gov't Survives No-Confidence Vote

The Czech government headed by Prime Minister Andrej Babis on Thursday survived a no-confidence vote in the Chamber of Deputies.
   
A total of 171 deputies cast their votes on Thursday night, including 89 voting in favor of the no-confidence motion, and 82, against. At least 101 votes are needed in the 200-member lower house to pass the motion against the government.

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It's the third time the Babis government faced a no-confidence vote. This time it was brought by two opposition coalitions over the government's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, Babis's alleged conflicts of interest and a recent diplomatic row between the Czech Republic and Russia.
   
The opposition parties fell short of winning the required majority of 101 votes as the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia chose not to support them and left the parliament floor before the voting.
   
"The government does not have our confidence, but the opposition parties even less so," Communist Party Chairman Vojtech Filip said during the parliament debate.
   
"Therefore we will not participate in this pointless spectacle, and we are leaving to work for the people," Filip said.