Uncertainty arises after Czech leader hospitalized

The Czech Republic was plunged into uncertainty on Sunday as President Milos Zeman was rushed to hospital a day after his ally, populist Prime Minister Andrej Babis, narrowly lost an election.

The president, who plays a critical role in nominating any future prime minister, was taken to a military hospital by ambulance shortly after meeting Babis. Zeman appeared to be unconscious upon arrival, with someone seen holding up his head.

His doctor said he was in intensive care. The DNES broadsheet later reported on Sunday that Zeman, who has liver problems, was in stable condition and could spend up to three weeks in hospital.

In September, Zeman was hospitalized for eight nights to undergo several checkups and infusions. Zeman has since then stayed in the Lany manor, west of Prague.

Zeman's spokesman Jiri Ovcacek wrote on Twitter that Zeman's hospitalization would not jeopardize post-election talks.

Babis is hoping to hold on to power despite being defeated on Saturday by the center-right Together alliance, which has said it was ready to form a majority government with another grouping.

The president had cast his ballot in his official residence because of health problems.

Under the Czech Constitution, the authority to nominate the new prime minister falls on the speaker of the newly elected lower house of Parliament, if both houses of the body declare the president unable to perform his duties.

Close match

The Together alliance of the right-wing Civic Democrats, the center-right TOP 09 and the centrist Christian Democrats won 27.8 percent of the vote, while Babis's ANO party earned 27.1 percent.

The alliance would have a majority of 108 seats in the 200-seat Parliament together with another group comprising the anti-establishment Pirate Party and the centrist Mayors and Independents.

Together leader Petr Fiala said on Saturday that the two alliances would only talk about a government with each other, and will ask Zeman to help him form the government.

The Czech Republic is one-half of the former Czechoslovakia. In a significant moment in national history at this election, both the Communists and Social Democrats failed to win a seat for the first time since the peaceful so-called Velvet Divorce from Slovakia in 1993.

The country has a population of around 10.7 million and is a member of both NATO and the European Union. But during the campaign, Babis spoke of his opposition to the country accepting migrants and the EU's Green Deal, and even talked of trying to abolish the European Parliament.

Agencies, Julian Shea in London and Xinhua contributed to this story.