Czechs are casting their ballots from yesterday to today in a general election which the party of self-described “Trumpist” and former Czech prime minister Andrej Babis is expected to top, although without a majority.
A possible return to power of Babis could draw the Czech Republic — an ally of Ukraine — closer to EU mavericks Hungary and Slovakia, spelling rocky relations with Kyiv and Brussels.
Even if Babis’ ANO (“Yes”) party tops the vote, it would almost certainly have to negotiate a coalition or backing from other parties.
Photo: EPA
Babis is campaigning on pledges of welfare and halting military aid to Ukraine.
The center-right coalition government of Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala has provided extensive humanitarian and military aid to Ukraine, but many voters blame it for ignoring problems at home.
“A change is necessary. The Czech Republic must be more autonomous, it must not be just a messenger boy for Brussels,” 68-year-old geographer Jaroslav Kolar said.
However, doctor Anna Stefanova, 41, said she was afraid of a “sway towards Russia.”
Babis was critical of some EU policies while he was prime minister from 2017 to 2021, and is on good terms with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico, who have maintained ties with Moscow despite its invasion of Ukraine.
Polling stations were to open at 12pm and close at 8pm yesterday, before reopening from 6am to 12pm today, with the results expected tomorrow evening.
ANO tops the opinion polls, with support exceeding 30 percent, ahead of Fiala’s SPOLU (“Together”) grouping with about 20 percent.
“We are aiming at a single-party government. We have ruled before with success, with results,” Babis said at a TV debate with Fiala on Wednesday.
Describing himself as a “peacemonger” calling for a truce in Ukraine, Babis has vowed a “Czechs first” approach — echoing US President Donald Trump — and pledged “a better life” for all Czechs.
Babis last year cofounded the far-right Patriots for Europe group in the European Parliament, which also includes France’s National Rally among other parties.
Fiala, a 61-year-old former political science professor, said on X that voters would decide “whether we will continue on the path of freedom, high-quality democracy, security and prosperity, or whether we will go east.”
However, Charles University analyst Josef Mlejnek said he did not expect “a fundamental change” if Babis wins.
“Babis is a pragmatic businessman and the only thing he cares about is being prime minister,” he added.
Analysts cautioned that all would depend on the election results.
If Babis’ party comes first, but fails to win a majority, he could try to pursue a coalition with the far-right opposition SPD (“Freedom and Direct Democracy”) party, which is backed by about 12 percent of voters, analysts said.
Some concerns about Russian propaganda being spread online to influence the elections have also emerged, although analysts said they cannot see a big shift in voter sentiment so far.
A group of analysts last week said that Czech TikTok accounts reaching millions of viewers “systematically spread pro-Russian propaganda and support anti-system parties through manipulated engagement.”
Babis and Fiala have seen scandals tarnish their reputations.
Fiala’s government is under fire over the Czech Ministry of Justice’s decision to accept US$44 million in bitcoins from a convicted criminal.
Babis, Slovak-born and the seventh-wealthiest Czech according to Forbes magazine, is due to stand trial for EU subsidy fraud worth more than US$2 million. Babis allegedly took his farm near Prague out of his Agrofert food and chemicals holding company in 2007 to make it eligible for a subsidy for small firms.
He has rejected all allegations of wrongdoing as “a smear campaign.”
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