"I appoint you the head of government and hope that you will manage to form a new cabinet promptly and efficiently," Zeman told Babis, as aired by the republic’s television.
Babis has been the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic since December 2017, after his ANO party convincingly won the parliamentary elections in October 2017.
However, the parliament refused to approve the reappointment of the one-party cabinet headed by Babis in January, also deciding to strip the politician of his parliamentary immunity over the illegitimate receipt of an EU subsidy worth two million euros for one of his firms.
The strife forced ANO to a form a coalition with the opposition Czech Social Democratic Party (CSDP) and communists, achieving a majority in parliament —108 out of 200 seats.