Czech gov’t no-confidence vote as PM denies bitcoin cover-up

Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala has denied that his government is downplaying a $47 million bitcoin (BTC) donation from a convicted criminal, as a vote of no confidence session is underway.

Fiala gave a speech in the Czech parliament today, where he described the donation as “an unnecessary problem that could have been prevented.”

As reported by České noviny, Fiala claimed, “We are not sweeping anything under the carpet, we are ready to respond to any information that appears or will appear.”

A convicted criminal with drug charges against his name donated the BTC to Czechia’s Justice Minister Pavel Blažek, who sold it for millions earlier this year. Blažek then resigned on May 30 before opposition party members called for a vote of no confidence against Fiala.

Read more: Who donated 300 BTC to Ross Ulbricht?

Today, Fiala admitted that Blažek wasn’t skeptical enough about the donation and resigned after failing to correctly assess the situation. Fiala added that investigations are underway and said that they must not be swayed by speculation from opposition parties.

In an almost two-hour speech today, billionaire leader of the ANO opposition party, Andrej Babiš, said that Fiala’s government has been the country’s “most corrupt” and claimed it “has been drowning in lies, scandals, incompetence and corruption for almost four years.”

Fiala represents the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) and would need more than 101 votes against him to be ousted. Currently, the combined opposition, consisting of ANO and the Freedom and Direct Democracy party, doesn’t have this many votes.

While the vote was scheduled to take place today, ODS member Marek Benda believes that the actual voting process is likely going to happen tomorrow.