PRAGUE (Reuters) – The Czech centre-right government’s parliamentary majority was set to shrink after a junior party voted late on Monday to leave the ruling coalition following the dismissal of its leader as development minister.
The liberal Pirate party said nearly four fifths of its members who voted in an internal poll supported leaving Prime Minister Petr Fiala’s government. Two ministers, including Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky, will submit their resignations on Tuesday, the party said.
The shuffle will cost the government four seats in parliament, although it will retain a majority with 104 members in the 200-seat lower house.
In a surprise move last week, Fiala sought to dismiss Pirate leader Ivan Bartos, citing mismanagement of the introduction of a digital system for issuing building permits.
President Petr Pavel granted Bartos’s dismissal on Monday evening.
The shake-up followed a poor showing for government parties in regional and senate elections this month, raising nerves in the coalition a year before national elections in which the populist opposition party has a comfortable poll lead.
Fiala said on Monday evening on social media platform X that he wanted to complete the cabinet reshuffle by the end of next week.
Coalition officials have left open the possibility of Lipavsky, who has been the main voice of the government’s strong support for Ukraine in its war with Russia, to stay on as foreign minister.
(Reporting by Jason Hovet, editing by Ed Osmond)