Populist billionaire Andrej Babiš wins Czech parliamentary election

The populist billionaire Andrej Babiš has won the Czech Republicparliamentary elections, preliminary results show, but fallen short of the overall majority.

This win marks a political comeback for Babiš, who was prime minister from 2017 to 2021. He is expected to put the country on a course away from supporting Ukraine and towards Hungary and Slovakia, who have taken a pro-Russian path.

With the votes from almost 98% of polling stations counted by the Czech statistics office, Babiš’s ANO (YES) party captured 35% of the vote, followed by the pro-western coalition of the prime minister, Petr Fiala, with 23.0%. The coalition defeated Babiš in the 2021 election.

The two-day election filled 200 seats in the lower house of the Czech parliament. A group of mayors known as STAN, also a member of Fiala’s government, received 11.1% of the vote, with another ally of Fiala, the Pirates party, getting an 8.7% share.

Babiš, a self-proclaimed “Trumpist”, was all smiles and hailed the “historic result” as “the absolute peak” of his political career. Voter turnout for this election was high, at almost 69%.

As Babiš’s ANO did not win the overall majority, the 71-year-old is expected to be invited to lead talks in forming a new coalition. He has already ruled out cooperation with any of the parties that have been in the government after the 2021 election.

His potential partners include the fringe parties Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD), an anti-immigration party that won 7.9% of the vote, and a rightwing group called the Motorists, which received 6.8%.

He may need to form an alliance with both parties to be able to hold the overall majority. “We will definitely lead talks with the SPD and the Motorists and seek a single-party government led by ANO,” Babiš said.

During its election campaign, ANO advocated for increased welfare spending and a reduction in foreign aid, including donations to Ukraine. It also promised higher wages and pensions, and lower taxes and tax discounts for students and young families – all in hope of ending austerity.

An ally of the Hungarian leader, Viktor Orbán, Babiš has teamed up with a number of far-right parties in the Patriots for Europe group in the European parliament to challenge the mainstream direction of Europe’s policies, including decarbonisation.

[Source: The Guardian]