With most votes tallied, Babis’s ANO party is ahead, but it appears set to fall short of a majority in parliament.By News AgenciesPublished On 4 Oct 20254 Oct 2025Click here to share on social mediashare2ShareBillionaire Andrej Babis’s populist ANO party has taken a commanding lead in the Czech Republic’s parliamentary election, but is on track to fall short of a majority.With ballots from more than 97 percent of polling stations counted on Saturday, ANO had 35 percent of the vote, according to the Czech Statistical Office. Prime Minister Petr Fiala’s centre-right Spolu (Together) alliance trailed with 23 percent.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listShortly after the preliminary results were announced, Fiala conceded defeat and offered congratulations to Babis.Turnout reached 68 percent, the highest since 1998, with more than 4,400 candidates and 26 parties competing for seats in the 200-member lower house.President Petr Pavel, who holds the power to appoint the next prime minister, is expected to open coalition talks with party leaders on Sunday once results are finalised. Officials have warned that the rollout of mail-in voting could slow the official confirmation.Despite the strong showing, the failure to secure a majority means Babis cannot rule alone. Early signs suggest ANO may seek backing from the Motorists, a party opposing European Union green policies, and the far-right Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD), which has campaigned against both NATO and the EU. Leader of ANO party Andrej Babis speaks during a news conference after the preliminary results of the parliamentary election, at the party’s election headquarters in Prague, Czech Republic, October 4, 2025 [Radovan Stoklasa/Reuters]SPD deputy leader Radim Fiala told Czech television the party was ready to help topple the government. “We went into the election with the aim of ending the government of Petr Fiala and support even for a minority cabinet of ANO is important for us and it would meet the target we had for this election,” he said. Advertisement The partial results showed fringe pro-Russian parties underperforming. SPD managed 8 percent, while the far-left Stacilo! movement, centred on the Communist Party, failed to clear the 5 percent threshold to enter …
