Opposition party ANO of former prime minister Andrej Babiš won a resounding victory in 10 out of 13 regions in the regional elections while simultaneously making a strong showing in the Senate elections.
In the Czech elections held on Friday and Saturday, ANO (Patriots) secured a total of 292 seats on regional councils. Compared to the election results four years ago, it made the biggest gains of all the parties contesting the elections, gaining 114 additional regional councillors. ANO’s campaign focused on harsh criticism of the government.
As for the parties in the governing coalition, the Civic Democrats (ECR) won 106 seats, the Mayors and Independents 73, the Christian Democrats 49 and TOP 09 (all three EPP) 16.
The last party in the ruling coalition, the Pirate Party (Greens/EFA), took a beating, winning just three seats in the regional councils compared to its current 99.
ANO continues to strengthen its position on the Czech political scene.
It is in the best position after the first round of elections for a third of the Senate, the upper chamber of the Czech parliament. The party gained two senators in the first round and has 19 finalists who will run in the second round, the highest number of any party.
(Ondřej Plevák | Euractiv.cz)
Source: euractiv.com
