Czech president cannot perform duties due to ill health: Official

Senate speaker says hospitalised President Milos Zeman unable to work, seeks to shift duties to other officials.

Czech President Milos Zeman is currently unable to carry out his duties, the head of parliament’s upper house has said, citing a report he had requested from the hospital where Zeman has been in intensive care for more than a week.

Milos Vystrcil, the Senate speaker, told reporters on Monday that the report said it was unlikely Zeman could return to work in the coming weeks.

He said parliament thus needed to discuss enacting a constitutional clause that shifts the president’s duties to other officials, including the appointment of a new prime minister following the October 8-9 election.