PRAGUE (AP) — The new Czech government of populist Prime Minister Andrej Babiš survived on Wednesday a parliamentary no-confidence vote called by the opposition over the handling of a dispute with the country’s president.
Only 84 opposition lawmakers in the 200-seat lower house of Parliament voted in favor of dismissing the three-party coalition government. At least 101 votes were needed to oust the government at the end of a two-day debate.
The controversy revolved around President Petr Pavel's refusal to appoint a government minister representing the right-wing Motorists for Themselves Euro-skeptic party.
Pavel said that Motorist Filip Turek was ineligible to become the environment minister after a daily newspaper published posts from his Facebook page found to be openly racist, homophobic and sexist.
Turek apologized for some posts, but denied that he posted some others.
Foreign Minister Petr Macinka, head of the Motorists party, then accused the president of violating the country’s constitution and threatened him with consequences, including working to prevent Pavel from representing the country at a NATO summit this year if he fails to appoint his associate. Pavel accused Macinka of blackmailing him.
Babiš has rejected opposition calls to dismiss Macinka, whose party formed a coalition with Babiš and his ANO, or YES, movement that won big in the country’s October election. Macinka has refused to apologize.
The president’s office is largely ceremonial, but one of his key roles is to swear in ministers at the request of the prime minister.
Tens of thousands of Czechs rallied Sunday in the capital, Prague, and elsewhere in support of the president.
The president and the prime minister met Wednesday over the issue. Pavel said his decision not to appoint Turek was final. Babiš said the issue was over for him.
On Dec. 15, Pavel swore in Babiš and his new government, which allied itself with two small political groups, the Freedom and Direct Democracy anti-migrant party and the Motorists.
The coalition’s agenda includes steering the country away from supporting Ukraine and rejecting some key European Union policies.
Unlike the new government, Pavel, a retired army general, and the opposition, are staunch supporters of Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s invasion.
People gather in support of Czech President Petr Pavel at the Old Town Square in Prague, Czech Republic, Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026. (Ondrej Deml/CTK via AP)
Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni, right, welcomes Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš at the Chigi government offices in Rome for talks, Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
MILAN (AP) — The IOC elected its first female member from Iran on Wednesday, who became its current youngest representative and opened the Olympic body to scrutiny over the country's record on women in sports.
Soraya Aghaei, who competed for Iran in badminton at the Tokyo Olympics, is now the 107th member of the International Olympic Committee by a 95-2 vote. She is just the third-ever Iranian representative at the IOC and the first since 2004.
The IOC invites prospective members to join an exclusive body that includes former Olympic athletes, leaders of international sports bodies, members of royal families, former political leaders, diplomats, industrialists and an Oscar-winning actress.
Aghaei joins the global Olympic body when it is led by the first female president in its 132-year history, Kirsty Coventry. Women now comprise 45% of the membership, the IOC said.
Coventry was later asked at a news conference how Aghaei's entry to the IOC could link to changing Iran's refusal to send female athletes to the Olympics in sports such as swimming, because of religious dress codes.
“I think she is going to be an incredible asset to the IOC,” Coventry said, without addressing the question of discrimination. She described Aghaei as "an incredible young lady who was a very good athlete and has been a really good coach.”
In Olympic history, Iran won three medals in women's events, all in taekwondo. The first of them, Kimia Alizadeh, took bronze at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Games then left the country she criticized for its mandate to wear the hijab headscarf. Alizadeh took bronze in Paris in 2024 competing for Bulgaria after losing to her Iranian former teammate Nahid Kiyani Chandeh.
Aghaei's eight-year term on the IOC will include voting to choose a host for the 2036 Summer Games.
The 30-year-old member of the Iranian Olympic body’s athletes commission became the youngest IOC member at the same meeting 31-year-old Samira Asghari of Afghanistan was reelected for her second term.
When Aghaei competed at the Tokyo Summer Games held in 2021 she was Iran’s first female Olympian in the sport.
The previous Iranian badminton player at the Olympics, in 2008 at Beijing, was Kaveh Mehrabi who is now director of the IOC athletes’ department.
Iran's first IOC member for more than 20 years from 1955 was Gholam Reza Pahlavi, the brother of the then-Shah who was deposed during the Islamic Revolution in 1979.
AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Iranian badminton player Soraya Aghaei Hajiagha, center left, poses with International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Kirsty Coventry during her oath ceremony as a newly appointed member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) during the 145th IOC session ahead of the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026. (Daniel Munoz/Pool Photo via AP)
Iranian badminton player Soraya Aghaei Hajiagha speaks during her oath ceremony as a newly appointed member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) during the 145th IOC session ahead of the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2026 (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
