Populist billionaire Andrej Babis’s party set to win Czech election

The populist ANO party, led by billionaire Andrej Babis, has a clear lead in the Czech Republic’s parliamentary election but is on track to lose the majority.

ANO received 35% of the vote, according to the Czech Statistical Office, with ballots from more than 97% of the polling stations being counted on Saturday. Spolu (Together), a center-right alliance led by Prime Minister Petr Fiala, lost 23 percent.

Fiala conceded defeat and congratulated Babis shortly after the preliminary results were released.

With more than 4,400 candidates and 26 parties vying for seats in the 200-member lower house, turnout reached 68 percent, the highest level since 1998.

After the results are finalized, party leaders are expected to begin coalition discussions with president Petr Pavel on Sunday. Officials have warned that the rollout of mail-in voting could stifle the official confirmation process.

Babis cannot rule by himself because of the overwhelming showing. ANO may be supported by the Motorists, a party that opposes EU green policies, and the far-right Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD), a party that has opposed NATO and the EU.

Radim Fiala, the SPD deputy leader, stated on Czech television that he was prepared to support the government’s overthrow. It was important to us and it would meet the election’s goal, he said, “because we went into it with the intention of ending the government of Petr Fiala and supporting even a minority cabinet of ANO.”

Randibor pro-Russian parties performed poorly in the partial results. The far-left Stacilo! managed 8%, while SPD! Movement that was centered on the Communist Party failed to pass the 5% threshold for parliamentary session.

Babis, who oversaw a center-left-led coalition from 2017 to 2021, has recently shifted significantly to the right. He once endorsed the euro, and he now declares himself an admirer and eurosceptic toward US President Donald Trump, even distributing “Strong Czechia” baseball caps with the slogan “MAGA.”

He has also allied himself with Viktor Orban, the prime minister of Hungary, and the European Parliament’s far-right coalition.