Parties sign power-sharing deal to form new Czech government

PRAGUE (AP) — Two party coalitions that emerged as winners of the Czech Republic’s parliamentary election have signed a power-sharing deal to govern. A three-party, liberal-conservative coalition composed of the Civic Democratic Party, Christian Democrats and the TOP 09 party garnered 27.8% of votes in last month’s poll. That group has teamed up with the center-left liberal coalition made up of the Pirate Party and STAN – a group of mayors – which received 15.6% of votes. The new partnership will hold a 108-seat majority in the the 200-seat lower house of Parliament, relegating outgoing populist Prime Minister Andrej Babis and his centrist ANO (YES) movement to the opposition.