The most important upcoming vote in Parliament will be on the draft budget for 2019, and there isn’t much time left to polish it. Many sticking points remain to be solved among the coalition partners. Adjustments requested by the Social Democrats to the Ministry of Finance draft prepared by Alena Schillerová from ANO add up to more than 1.5 billion CZK. Although the Social Democrats claim these adjustments are crucial for them to keep the faith in the coalition, rejecting the draft budget won’t be an option for them.
ANO already slapped Social Democrats on the wrist regarding social topics and repeatedly postponed related negotiations. The Social Democrats are only lucky that their demands are to some extent overlapping with demands of the Communists, an unofficial coalition partner who actively supported Babiš’s government on Friday. The government would hardly push the draft budget through without Communists’ votes and as their demands all together make about one billion CZK; they are likely to be heard.
On the other hand, proposals by the opposition are not going to be reflected by the government. Civic Democrats demand cuts of 40 billion, mainly for the subventions that distort the market, TOP 09 ask for 22 billion worth of changes and Pirates for 10 billion. Only Mayors have a chance to succeed as they are aiming for an additional amount of 4 billion CZK for road repairs, which could be tempting for the Social Democrats.
