Fiala, like everyone else at the ceremony, wore a gas mask as he signed the official document in front of Zeman, who was sitting inside a specially built box for the occasion.
Immediately after the results were announced, the two coalitions signed a memorandum of understanding to form a government to oust incumbent Prime Minister Andrej Babis.
Just a day after the election, Zeman, 77, was rushed to the hospital, where he spent several weeks in intensive care for his liver and other serious health problems.
One of the president’s main constitutional roles is to choose the next prime minister to form a government, so Zeman’s hospitalization brought the country into a political deadlock.
Zeman was released from the hospital after 46 days on Thursday morning and was only brought back in the evening after testing positive for Covid-19.
He was released again on Saturday, after showing no Covid symptoms, but with the requirement that he remain in isolation.
During the ceremony, Zeman and Fiala talk to each other using a microphone. Zeman said he will next meet privately with future Fiala cabinet members, adding that he wants to complete the process by December 13.
Until then, with a new government formed and a vote of confidence in the lower house of the Czech Parliament, Babis and his government remain in power.
