Andrej Babiš, the acting Prime Minister of the scandalous Czech Republic, has been re-appointed in an attempt to end months of political stalemate by reluctant and powerful opposition MPs to form a government with him.

Babiš was officially resettled in a ceremony at Prague Castle chaired by Miloš Zeman, the Czech populist president, who appeared to be trying to use the possibility of a coalition with a far-right group to force the Social Democratic Party (ČSSD) to accept an agreement.

BabiÅ¡’s appointment, for the second time in six months, came a day after large crowds of protesters gathered in Prague and other Czech towns to protest the prospect of a government led by him.

Billionaire businessman and the second richest man in the Czech Republic, BabiÅ¡ has failed to form a stable administration since his dissatisfied action. The Citizens’ Party (ANO) won the legislative elections last October because the main parties refused to serve under it on the grounds that it faced allegations of criminal fraud.

Despite reservations, the Social Democrats agreed last month to form a coalition on condition that BabiÅ¡ resign as prime minister if found guilty of the charges, which relate to an EU grant of $ 2m. euros (£ 1.75 million). He denies any wrongdoing. Last year he called the allegations a “pseudo-deal” and a political plot against him.

The agreement is subject to approval by an internal vote of members, the outcome of which is expected on June 15. If confirmed, it would produce a minority coalition dependent on parliamentary support from the Communist Party (KSCM), allowing it to exercise political power for the first time since the Velvet Revolution of 1989 which ended its rule in 41 years on what was then Czechoslovakia.

Anticipating the outcome of the Social Democrats’ ballot, Zeman, who was narrowly re-elected in a hotly contested presidential election in January, appeared to be trying to intimidate members into stopping them from rejecting the coalition deal.

“He tries to tell them that BabiÅ¡ will be prime minister no matter what and if you don’t approve of the coalition with him, he will have to form one with the far right and the communists,” said Jiří Pehe, a Czech. . political analyst who is the campus director of New York University in Prague.

Zeman, who gained a reputation for fierce anti-Muslim rhetoric, openly touted a government made up of ANO, Communists, and the anti-immigration Freedom and Direct Democracy Party (SPD), led by Tomio Okamura. Last year, Okamura hosted a conference of far-right leaders attended by Marine Le Pen, leader of the French National Front, and Geert Wilders, leader of the Dutch Freedom Party.

Slovak Babiš has so far refused to make such a deal, fearing it would damage his position in the EU.