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Winnipeg Free Press
10 hours ago
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
Czech coalition government survives no-confidence vote over bitcoin scandal
PRAGUE (AP) — The Czech government survived a parliamentary no-confidence vote called by the main opposition party on Wednesday over a bitcoin-related scandal. Only 94 opposition lawmakers in the 200-seat lower house of Parliament voted in favor of dismissing the four-party coalition led by conservative Prime Minister Petr Fiala. At least 101 votes were needed to oust the government at the end of a two-day debate. The main opposition centrist ANO (YES) movement led by populist billionaire Andrej Babiš requested the vote after the Justice Ministry accepted a donation of bitcoins and sold them for almost 1 billion Czech koruna ($47 million) earlier this year. Justice Minister Pavel Blažek resigned from his post over the issue on May 30 and was replaced by Eva Decroix on June 10. Blažek said he wasn't aware of any wrongdoing, but didn't want the coalition to be harmed by the scandal. Fiala said he believed Blažek acted with goodwill. Decroix said she will order an independent probe into the ministry's activities in the case. The scandal focuses on the fact that the bitcoins were donated to the ministry by a person who was previously convicted of drug dealing and other crimes, while it was not clear why he did it. The opposition has accused Blažek of possible money laundering, because it wasn't clear where the bitcoins originated, and demanded the resignation of the entire government. The issue is being investigated by the national police's organized crime unit. It was the fourth no-confidence motion since the government took over after a 2021 election. The scandal comes just months before the Oct. 3-4 parliamentary election. Babiš and his movement are predicted to win the vote.
Associated Press
10 hours ago
- Politics
- Associated Press
Czech coalition government survives no-confidence vote over bitcoin scandal
PRAGUE (AP) — The Czech government survived a parliamentary no-confidence vote called by the main opposition party on Wednesday over a bitcoin-related scandal. Only 94 opposition lawmakers in the 200-seat lower house of Parliament voted in favor of dismissing the four-party coalition led by conservative Prime Minister Petr Fiala. At least 101 votes were needed to oust the government at the end of a two-day debate. The main opposition centrist ANO (YES) movement led by populist billionaire Andrej Babiš requested the vote after the Justice Ministry accepted a donation of bitcoins and sold them for almost 1 billion Czech koruna ($47 million) earlier this year. Justice Minister Pavel Blažek resigned from his post over the issue on May 30 and was replaced by Eva Decroix on June 10. Blažek said he wasn't aware of any wrongdoing, but didn't want the coalition to be harmed by the scandal. Fiala said he believed Blažek acted with goodwill. Decroix said she will order an independent probe into the ministry's activities in the case. The scandal focuses on the fact that the bitcoins were donated to the ministry by a person who was previously convicted of drug dealing and other crimes, while it was not clear why he did it. The opposition has accused Blažek of possible money laundering, because it wasn't clear where the bitcoins originated, and demanded the resignation of the entire government. The issue is being investigated by the national police's organized crime unit. It was the fourth no-confidence motion since the government took over after a 2021 election. The scandal comes just months before the Oct. 3-4 parliamentary election. Babiš and his movement are predicted to win the vote.
30-05-2025
- Politics
Czech justice minister resigns over a donated bitcoin scandal
PRAGUE -- Czech Republic Justice Minister Pavel Blažek resigned from his post over a bitcoin-related scandal on Friday. Blažek was under fire from the opposition after his ministry accepted a donation of bitcoins and sold them for about 1 billion Czech koruna (more than $45 million) earlier this year. Blažek said that he wasn't aware of any wrongdoing, but didn't want the four-party coalition government led by Prime Minister Petr Fiala to be harmed by the scandal. Fiala said that he appreciated his resignation and believed that Blažek acted with goodwill. Blažek was a close ally of Fiala in the government, and also in his conservative Civic Democratic Party. It's not clear who might replace him. The issue focused on the fact that the bitcoins were donated to the ministry by a person who was previously convicted of drug dealing and other crimes. The opposition has accused Blažek of possible money laundering, because it wasn't clear where the bitcoins came from. It was also not clear why the person donated the bitcoins to the ministry. The issue has been investigated by the police organized crime unit. The scandal took place just months before the Oct 3-4 parliamentary election. The main opposition ANO (YES) party led by former populist Prime Minister Andrej Babiš is predicted to win the vote.
