Prague, Oct 5: Andrej Babis’s ANO party secured a decisive lead in the Czech parliamentary elections but fell short of winning outright control. With nearly all ballots counted, ANO received about 35 percent of votes, while Prime Minister Petr Fiala’s Spolu alliance trailed far behind. Fiala quickly admitted defeat and congratulated Babis. Turnout was the highest in decades, with thousands of candidates contesting 200 seats in the lower chamber, Al Jazeera reported.
President Petr Pavel is expected to invite party leaders for coalition talks once the results are formally confirmed. Authorities said the final count could take longer because of mail-in ballots, Al Jazeera added.
Babis’s numbers put him in pole position, but his lack of a majority forces him to look for allies. Early indications suggest ANO may approach the Motorists’ party, known for rejecting EU climate measures, and the nationalist Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD), which has long opposed NATO and the EU, according to Al Jazeera.
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SPD deputy leader Radim Fiala said on television that his party is prepared to back Babis to unseat the current government, even if that means supporting a minority ANO cabinet.
Partial results showed pro-Russian factions struggling, with SPD at 8 percent and the far-left Stacilo! movement failing to cross the threshold for seats. Al Jazeera noted that Babis, once a centrist, has shifted sharply to the right, recasting himself as eurosceptic and embracing ties with Donald Trump and Hungary’s Viktor Orban, according to Al Jazeera.
Babis has resisted SPD’s calls for a referendum on leaving NATO and the EU but has promised to halt Prague’s independent arms procurement for Ukraine, arguing such matters should be coordinated by NATO and the EU. His stance signals a more nationalist, cautious approach to European commitments, Al Jazeera stated.
