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THE Czech Republic’s billionaire Prime Minister Andrej Babis and his ruling ANO party have lost their bid for re-election.
With all the votes counted today, the Czech Statistics Office reported that Together, a liberal-conservative three-party coalition, had captured 27.8 per cent of the vote, while the ANO received 27.1 per cent.
In a second blow to the ruling party, another coalition — a centre-left alliance of the Pirate Party and the Mayors & Independents — received 15.6 per cent of the vote to finish third.
“The two democratic coalitions have gained a majority and have a chance to form a majority government,” said Petr Fiala, Together’s leader and candidate for prime minister.
The two-day election to fill 200 seats in the lower house of Czech’s parliament took place shortly after the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists reported details of Mr Babis’s overseas financial dealings.
Mr Babis denied wrongdoing following the claims, which came as part of the Pandora Papers investigation.
The winning coalition won 71 seats while its partner captured 37 seats.
The main anti-migrant and anti-Muslim force in the Czech Republic, the Freedom and Direct Democracy Party, finished fourth on 9.6 per cent of the vote, or 20 seats — a small reduction from the 22 seats it won in 2017.
