Description: Czech Justice Minister Pavel Blazek reportedly accepted a bitcoin donation amounting to $45 million from a man convicted of being involved in an illegal online drug market. This information caused the Minister to submit his resignation and prompted the opposition to call a no confidence vote in an attempt to trigger early elections, originally scheduled for Oct. The Minister’s resignation comes at a critical time for Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala’s ruling government which is experiencing a decline in approval and voting ratings as the opposition’s leader from the populist ANO party, Karel Havlicek, declared that a no confidence vote would be most certainly instigated. Positive signals were gathered from Fiala’s coalition partners who demanded elaboration on the existing scandal but haven’t announced their inclination towards the no confidence vote stipulated by the opposition.
Impact: The bitcoin scandal surrounding the Czech Justice Minister could trigger a no confidence vote as the Czech political opposition is aiming at exploiting the ratings downfall of the ruling government to grapple power. The potential unraveling political crisis contributes towards the general unstable political establishments within the European Union riding on the populist and far – right wave. Czech parliamentary elections were scheduled for Oct, however, the instigated political destabilization by the opposition’s threats of no confidence vote could considerably destabilize the internal political dynamics in the Czech Republic, while impacting the general political landscape on the European continent further incentivizing divisions and political instability.