Czech govt resigns, election-winner Babis may take power before EU summit

The Czech center-left government of Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka stepped down on Wednesday. The move makes way for billionaire Andrej Babis, who won an election last month, to take power in time for an EU summit in December. “The resignation will be delivered to the president today,” Sobotka said after a regular government session. His coalition government was the first in 15 years to complete a full four-year term and presided over robust economic growth that helped cut unemployment to the lowest level in the EU and push up wages at the fastest pace in a decade, Reuters said. However, voters opted for anti-establishment candidates, punishing traditional parties at the polls. Babis’s ANO party, with pledges to fight political corruption, has failed to convince any of the other eight parliamentary parties to join a new coalition.