ANO, the right-wing populist Czech party, has won the second round of the Czech local and Senate elections.
After securing major gains in the first round, the ANO (Action of Dissatisfied Citizens – Akce Nespokojených Občanů) party, a member of the right-wing Patriots for Europe group in the European Parliament, also picked up seats in the second round.
Initially, the party secured 10 of the 13 regions contested, winning a total of 291 local council seats – up 119 seats on the previous election.
Alongside that, ANO also finished as runner-up everywhere else, indicating broad support for the party across the country.
In the Senate, ANO took eight seats, gaining 7 seats compared to 2022. This cycle, two seats were won in the first round and six more in the final round.
These elections marked the first time ANO won the most seats in a Senate election.
Within the ruling coalition, the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) and the Mayors and Independents (STAN) movement each secured two seats. The remaining 15 seats in the Senate were claimed by candidates from various regional coalitions.
A total of 27 seats were up for grabs, as the elections covered one-third of the 81 Senate seats. Czechia holds Senate elections every two years, with one-third of the Senators elected for six-year terms.
The results marked a significant boost for party president Andrej Babiš ahead of next year’s national elections, where ANO is considered the favourite to win.
Despite that, the ruling coalition parties, led by Prime Minister Petr Fiala’s Civic Democratic Party (ODS), maintained a majority in the Senate.
The Czech majority still holds but has lost appeal, although Fiala described the election result as a success for the ruling coalition.
“We managed to defend the Senate as a guarantee of democracy against populists,” he told reporters. He noted that the ruling coalition would be supported by 15 of the elected senators, while the opposition would be backed by nine.
“This is a solid result,” he said.
Andrej Babiš, president of ANO, said of the election result: “ANO won a Senate election for the first time and this is a huge success for us. Strengthened in the Senate, we will claim one of the vice presidents.”
The local elections saw major losses for the Green-aligned Pirate Party, who already shed 97 per cent of their seats in the first round. It led to Pirate leader Ivan Bartoš quickly announcing his resignation as party chair.
Following that, Fiala dismissed him from his position as Minister for Regional Development and Digitisation. Fiala cited what he said was Bartoš’ failure to fulfil his commitment to digitise construction permits as the reason for his dismissal.
The Prime Minister informed the minister of his decision via phone and Bartoš described the dismissal as a form of “betrayal,” criticising what he said was its lack of “human decency.”
