Things just got shaky for the last liberal democracy in Central Europe – PRI

In a region awash in populist, euroskeptic andanti-immigrant sentiments,theCzech Republic has acted as the last bastion of liberal democracy butthat could soon change.

Although Czech President MilosZeman the self-proclaimed "Czech Donald Trump" is and has been notoriously xenophobic, power has lainprimarily in the hands of pro-EUPrime Minister BohuslavSobotka. Sobotka has beenleading the Czech Republic's coalition government as a memberof the center-left Social DemocraticParty since 2014.

But after ongoing conflict surrounding the taxes ofAndrej Babis,the country's finance minister,Sobotkaannounced his resignation on Tuesday.And he says he's taking parliament with him.

"It is unacceptable for the finance minister not to be able to prove the origins of his property," Sobotka said at a news conference. "Especially since he is a member of a government that has built its program on a fight against tax evasion."

Babis is the country's second-richest man. He founded the centrist, anti-corruption ANO (Czech for "yes") Party in 2011. As finance minister, his stated goal was to shake up a corrupt Czech government, using the managerial skills that made him such a successful businessman. As the BBC's Rob Cameron in Prague put it, Babiswanted to "drain the swamp Czech-style."

"Now Mr. Babisfinds himself at the center of a controversy over his own tax affairs," Cameron says."He'sbeen accused of basically buying 55 million euros of tax-free bonds from his own business empire."

With Sobotka's exit, and the country's lawmakers with him, the future of the Czech government is completely up to President Zeman. And it seems no one is certain what he will do.

"He's an unpredictable character," says Cameron.

Cameron says Zemancould do anythingfrom delay Sobotka's resignation,to appoint a new prime minister and caretaker government. But any government established by Zeman would surely stand in stark contrast to the oneled by Sobotka.

Zeman and Babis are both known for euroskeptic rhetoric, leading some to worry that their leadership will invite the creeping populism now common in surrounding countries like Slovakia, Hungary and Poland.

"Pro-Russian, euroskeptic governments and politicians. Autocratic, anti-liberal democracy," Cameron says. "Some observers do believe that is what is on the way herein the Czech Republic."

The country is due to hold parliamentary elections in less than six months. Cameron saysBabis and the ANO Party are currently polling at 30 percent, while the Social Democrats are polling at 15 percent.

"One thing is certain [President Zeman] will milk this to the full," says Cameron. "This really puts him in the spotlight and it casts him in the light as a 'power broker' and that's a role he will enjoy very much."

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Things just got shaky for the last liberal democracy in Central Europe - PRI