Czech President Milos Zeman appointed Civic Democratic Party leader Petr Fiala prime minister in Lany, Central Bohemia, on Sunday. Mr Fiala immediately took the official oath of office stipulated by the constitution.

President Zeman announced that he would be meeting with the ministerial candidates one by one from Monday until 13 December, after which the formation of the new government is likely to be greenlighted.

Mr Zeman earlier stated that he had objections to one of the 17 ministerial candidates. The president did not name the candidate, but press reports suggest it could be the Czech Pirate Party’s foreign ministerial choice, Jan Lipavsky. This was not officially denied, but was not confirmed either. Mr Fiala said he had already informed the president about the candidates, and reiterated his continued support for them.

Právě teď jsem v Lánech, kde mě prezident Zeman jmenoval předsedou vlády. pic.twitter.com/0PtRLq3oPw

— Petr Fiala (@P_Fiala) November 28, 2021

The appointment ceremony of the 57-year-old politician was held in compliance with the current epidemiological and hygienic rules in place, with all participants wearing FFP3 masks.

Given that Mr Zeman tested positive for coronavirus Thursday and had to go into quarantine for two weeks, the president and the premier-elect to be appointed were not able to have direct contact.

During the ceremony, Mr Zeman was isolated in a transparent cubical from Mr Fiala and the other attendees. This insured visual contact between the two politicians and allowed them to talk to each other.

With the appointment of Mr Fiala, the Czech Republic will have two prime ministers for several weeks: acting PM Andrej Babis and newly appointed PM Petr Fiala. Under the constitution, effective power is in the hands of the caretaker government until the new government is formally appointed. Mr Fiala said his cabinet aims to take over the country in mid-December.

Mr Fiala was the joint candidate of the new five-party coalition in the Czech Republic, formed by the three-party alliance Spolu (Together), winning the parliamentary elections in October, and the two-party PirSTAN (Pirates and Mayors) alliance. The five parties have already signed the coalition agreement.

Petr Fiala was born on 1 September 1964, in Brno, Southern Moravia. He is a political scientist and professor at the Masaryk University in Brno, where he also served as rector from 2004 to 2011. He was elected as MP in 2013, and became head of the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) in 2014. He served as education minister in the government of Petr Necas from 2012 to 2013, and as vice president of the Chamber of Deputies from 2017 to 2021. Mr Fiala is married and has three children.