Czechs face prospect of early elections after talks collapse

PRAGUE – Early elections in the Czech Republic appear to have become more likely after the collapse of talks to form a new government.

In an interview with the Pravo daily on Friday, Andrej Babis, the populist billionaire who leads the centrist ANO (YES) movement said early elections might be an option.

Babis won October's ballot but his minority government failed to win a mandatory confidence vote in Parliament in January and had to resign.

Czech President Milos Zeman asked Babis to try again to form a new government. But Babis' negotiation to create a coalition with the leftist Social Democrats that would rule with support from the Communists collapsed late Thursday.

Other parliamentary parties are reluctant to rule with Babis due to fraud charges he faces.