Czech politics is breaking new ground: Since the seriously ill President Milos Zeman, who has been in intensive care for ten days, is incapacitated according to his doctors, he is now losing his powers. The Constitutional Committee of the Senate met yesterday and came to the conclusion that the conditions for the activation of the relevant Article 66 of the Constitution have been “met”.
“The state of health does not allow the president to control his office and the prognosis is that he will not be able to return to office in a few weeks,” said Senator Zdenek Hraba after the meeting. Specifically, this means that Zeman’s powers under the Basic Law go to the head of the House of Representatives and the head of government.
Both chambers of parliament still have to agree to this. The Senate could do that on November 5th. The recently elected House of Representatives will be constituted on November 8th – and then the new mandataries will also be able to give the green light.
