"I am not going to submit the cabinet's resignation to the president. Today I will send to the Prazsky hrad [president's residence] a petition for withdrawal from the government of Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Andrej Babis," Sobotka said at a press conference.
According to Sobotka, he changed his mind after Zeman had indicated that he would treat the resignation as Sobotka's own, not of the entire cabinet.
Sobotka pointed out he could not be responsible for a government in which the financial minister was suspected of fraud.
Babis, who is one of the richest people in the Czech Republic, has been accused of tax evasion to the tune of millions of dollars, partly during his time in office, despite his party's anti-corruption platform. The Czech parliament ordered him to explain his private finances in late April after allegations that a part of his fortune could have been amassed by transferring bonds between entities involved in his business empire without being taxed.
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