Leader of the ANO (YES) movement Andrej Babis leaves after a meeting with Czech President Petr Pavel following the Czech general elections at the Prague Castle, in Prague, Czech Republic, 05 October 2025. EPA/MARTIN DIVISEK
As polls had been predicting for months, the populist ANO movement of former prime minister and agro-billionaire Andrej Babis won a landslide victory at the weekend’s Czech parliamentary election.
With nearly 35 per cent of the popular vote, ANO will have 80 MPs in the 200-member lower house of parliament, well ahead of any other party or political grouping.
While faring relatively better than many had expected, the ruling Spolu coalition of Premier Petr Fiala racked up 23 per cent of the vote, ahead of government partners Stan with 11 per cent) and the liberal Pirate Party with 9 per cent. All of them had indicated throughout the campaign that they would not support a government led by Babis. Following Spolu’s defeat, a shakeup within the coalition is in the cards, as well as within Fiala’s Civic Democrats (ODS), whose congress has already been brought forward to January.
That leaves the populist, Eurosceptic and anti-immigration ANO with just two other options to form a government: with the far-right, pro-Russian Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) party, which underperformed with only 15 mandates; or with the newer anti-Green Deal, ultra-conservative Motorists for Themselves, which exceeded expectations with nearly 7 per cent of the vote and 13 MPs. Together, these three parties would have a majority of 108 MPs in the Chamber of Deputies.
While ANO’s victory was widely expected, the election day still held a few surprises, including the relatively high turnout (69 per cent, one of the highest participation rates in modern Czech political history), the good results of the Pirates who more than quadrupled their number of seats, and the failure of the anti-EU and anti-NATO Communist-led Stacilo coalition to reach the 5 per cent electoral threshold to get into parliament.
On Saturday evening, a jubilant Babis – who was ousted as premier in 2021 and suffered an unsuccessful presidential bid two years ago – addressed supporters in ANO’s campaign headquarters on the outskirts of Prague, describing the victory as a “historic success” and “the pinnacle of my career”.
Responding to reporters, he dismissed questions about how Czechia under ANO could become an unreliable partner within the EU and NATO, and repeated that his party’s Western orientation was clear and non-negotiable.
But the hardest part may still lie ahead. Post-election talks are already underway, with Babis saying he hopes to form a one-colour government with the possible support of SPD and the Motorists, both of whom had long expressed their openness to collaborate with an ANO government despite several key policy differences. Whether this will result in a formal ruling coalition or, as preferred by the ANO movement, a minority government with parliamentary support remains to be seen.
“It will be very difficult for Andrej Babis to put together a stable coalition,” assessed veteran political commentator Jiri Pehe.
According to analysts, the Motorists will be central in post-election talks and can act as king-makers, as their MPs could both hand Babis the keys of government as well as give the current ruling coalition an unexpected and unwieldy majority. Already, there are reports that Babis is facing an uphill task in finding common ground with the Motorists and SPD, both of which are pushing for ministerial positions.
Babis headed to Prague castle on Sunday morning to meet with President Petr Pavel, who was expected to meet with the leaders of all the parliamentary parties throughout Sunday and Monday. The head of state has not yet formally tasked Babis – who’s facing several potentially damaging judicial troubles – with forming a government.
