PRAGUE — Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka rejected a proposal for a new finance minister on Monday, prolonging a political crisis centering on the Republic’s finance minister.
Sobotka had asked President Milos Zeman to fire Finance Minister Andrej Babis, one of the country’s richest people, over unexplained business dealings. Babis has denied wrongdoing and says he won’t resign.
Zeman has refused to fire his ally.
In an effort to resolve the crisis, Babis last week proposed his deputy, Alena Schillerova, as a replacement. Sobotka said Monday that Schillerova is too close to Babis.
Babis said he didn’t understand Sobotka’s decision, but said he planned to propose another candidate for finance minister by Wednesday. ‘‘We want to solve the crisis very soon,’’ Babis said.
The ANO party is favored to win October’s parliamentary election well ahead of Sobotka’s leftist Social Democrats.
Sobotka said Monday that he didn’t trust that Schillerova would objectively investigate what he calls Babis’s ‘‘tax problems’’ and asked ANO to propose a new candidate.
The political deadlock has paralyzed the legislative process in the European Union nation as the prime minister tries to increase his support before the October voting.
Disputes between Sobotka and Babis escalated into a full government crisis this month after the prime minister tried to pressure the finance minister to quit over his past business dealings. Babis has said all of his transactions have been legal and has refused to resign, forcing Sobotka to formally demand his replacement.
The request is now with Zeman, who has sided with Babis during the crisis and asked the Constitutional Court whether he is obliged to dismiss him.