ABN TV reports that the Czech President Milos Zeman was taken to an intensive care unit on Sunday, a day after the country held a general election, his doctor said.
“At the moment, the patient is hospitalised at an intensive care unit of Prague’s Military University Hospital,” Zeman’s doctor Miroslav Zavoral told reporters, adding he could not yet publicise the diagnosis.
The president, who plays a critical role in nominating any future prime minister, was taken to hospital by ambulance shortly after meeting Babis and appeared to be unconscious upon arrival, with someone seen holding up his head.
His doctor said he was in intensive care, while the Blesk tabloid quoted Zeman’s office head Vratislav Mynar as saying that he “fell asleep during the transport, that’s all. He wasn’t unconscious”.
The DNES broadsheet wrote later on Sunday that Zeman, who has liver problems according to local media, was in a stable condition and could spend up to three weeks in hospital.
The DNES broadsheet wrote later on Sunday that Zeman, who has liver problems according to local media, was in a stable condition and could spend up to three weeks in hospital.
“Even if it’s Mr. President, I’m not authorised to give you any details because the patient is protected by the law,” hospital spokeswoman Jitka Zinke told AFP.
Zeman’s spokesman Jiri Ovcacek said on Twitter that Zeman’s hospitalisation would not jeopardise the post-election talks.
Babis is hoping to hold on to power despite being defeated on Saturday by the center-right together an alliance, which has said it is ready to form a majority government with another grouping.
The president, who is wheelchair-bound, had cast his ballot in his official residence because of health problems less than a month after he spent eight nights at the military hospital.
Under the Czech constitution, the authority to nominate the new prime minister falls to the speaker of the newly elected lower house of parliament if both houses of the body declare the president unable to perform his duties.