Czech local elections: ANO opposition party seals landslide victory

In the 2024 regional elections in the Czech Republic, the opposition ANO party won by a wide margin in the vast majority of the 13 polling areas.

The ANO populist party of the former prime minister Andrej Babiš was defeated only in three regions: South Bohemia, where the ruling Civic Democratic Party received the most votes; South Moravia, where the coalition SPOLU of Civic Democrats, Christian Democrats, and TOP 09 won; and Liberec, where ANO was narrowly defeated by Mayors for Liberec.

ANO’s victory in Czech local elections

The biggest surprise in these elections was ANO’s victory in Central Bohemia, which was supposed to go to the ruling liberal democratic parties, as well as the Pirate Party’s poor performance in the ruling coalition, according to Radio Prague International.

ANO won a total of 292 seats, the largest increase since the last elections. It also has 114 regional councillors.

Voter turnout was slightly lower at 33%, compared to 38% in the last regional elections.

The populist ANO party, led by former prime minister Andrej Babiš, may face challenges in forming ruling coalitions in certain regions due to anticipated opposition from liberal democratic parties. It will have the ability to rule independently in three regions.

Wake-up call for Fiala’s government

The results are a wake-up call for Prime Minister Petr Fiala’s government, which has a record low popularity rating heading into next year’s general elections.

According to Czech Prime Minister and ODS Chairman Petr Fiala, the election results reflect reality and are neither a victory nor a fatal failure for the ODS, as he stated at his campaign headquarters.

Petr Fiala stated that the opposition ANO movement had become stronger and had more coalition potential, but that further negotiations were necessary.

ANO leads in Senate elections

ANO also has the most candidates moving to runoffs for 27 seats in the 81-member Senate. ANO has 19 candidates who advanced to the runoffs. The top two finishers from each district will face off in a head-to-head vote next weekend.

The turnout for the first round of Senate elections was 30.5%, one of the lowest in recent years. ANO’s triumph in the regional elections is expected to boost the chances of its Senate candidates in the upcoming runoff elections.

Andrej Babiš and pro-Russian stance

Andrej Babiš, head of the ANO party, praised his party’s regional victory as “a phenomenal success.” He credited party deputy leader Karel Havlíček for his active campaigning, notably in Central Bohemia, where the party achieved an unexpected and clear victory.

According to the German news agency DPA, ANO is a member of a European far-right coalition that includes Hungary’s ruling party Fidesz and Austria’s far-right Freedom Party.

Because of its alliance with pro-Russian forces in the European Parliament (Orban, Le Pen, and Wilders), the ANO is considered pro-Russian in the Czech Republic. Former Czech Prime Minister Babiš is known for his skepticism of military support for Ukraine. For example, he referred to the Czech initiative to purchase shells for Ukraine as a “government PR initiative.”