Role of the President and a Question of Confidence in the Government Formation Process in the Czech Republic

This thesis generally focuses on the president's role in the formation of the first government of Andrej Babiš after the 2017 parliamentary elections. As this government ruled for several months without the confidence of the Chamber of Deputies, the key part of the thesis further concerns the issue of the investiture vote. In the context of the post-election period, the thesis examines specific steps taken by the president in the government formation process in order to evaluate whether the manifestations of the president's influence are in line with the basic preconditions for the functioning of the executive power. The issue of confidence is assessed with respect to whether it is necessary for the government to rely on the confidence of the Chamber of Deputies, both in terms of relations between the executive and the legislature, but also regarding the government performance. Emphasis is therefore placed on the complex problematization of the investiture vote and the issue of confidence is then analysed primarily at the level of government's accountability to the Chamber of Deputies. Furthermore, the thesis confronts the first cabinet of Andrej Babiš with the basic prerequisites for effective government and aims to prove whether its appointment created a cabinet with the potential to govern..