Billionaire businessman Andrej Babis has won parliamentary elections in the Czech Republic, although his populist ANO party fell short of an overall majority, preliminary results show.
At current predictions, ANO received just under 35% of the vote, earning them 81 seats in the 200-seat lower house.
Babis – who served as prime minister from 2017 to 2021 – is expected to be invited to lead talks on forming a new coalition.
This election has thrown up no great surprises but leaves plenty of questions.
Few believed the current centre-right coalition could survive. Few expected Babis to emerge in first place, and few believed he would win enough seats to govern alone.
Babis will begin talks immediately – perhaps as early as tonight – with the two small right-wing eurosceptic parties that managed to pass the 5% threshold: the anti-Green Deal Motorists for Themselves, and the anti-immigrant Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) party, led by the Czech-Japanese entrepreneur Tomio Okamura.
It appears Babis will need an alliance with both to form a majority government.
ANO will have most in common with the Motorists, with whom they already share a European Parliament group—'Patriots for Europe'. Both parties share skepticism about EU emissions targets.
Relations with the SPD may be more complicated. The SPD fought this election as part of a coalition with several far-right parties, which might weaken their negotiation power. Furthermore, Babis has ruled out calls for referendums on EU or NATO membership, a core issue for the SPD.
Despite leaning into anti-Ukrainian rhetoric during the campaign, how Babis addresses issues concerning Ukrainian refugees remains to be seen.
Ultimately, Babis may decide to lead a minority cabinet supported by the Motorists and the SPD.
