Right-wing populist ANO party dominates Czech regional elections
Czechia's main opposition party dominated regional elections on Friday and Saturday, winning in ten out of 13 regions, just as it did four years ago.
The right-wing populist ANO, or "Yes" movement won in Vysočina, Plzeň, Central Bohemia, Ústí nad Labem, Karlovy Vary, Hradec Králové, Pardubice, Zlín, Olomouc and Moravia-Silesia regions.
The coalition SPOLU won in the South Moravian region, the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) won in South Bohemia, and the Mayors for Liberec won in the eponymous region.
Voter turnout was just under 33%, while 38% of voters turned out to vote in the last regional elections.
ANO, led by former PM Andrej Babiš, won a total of 292 seats, the most significant increase compared to the last elections. It also has 114 regional councillors.
According to ODS leader and Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, the election result reflects reality and is neither a success nor a fatal failure for the conservative eurosceptic party.
The opposition ANO movement had strengthened and had greater coalition potential, but further negotiations would be important, he said at his campaign headquarters.
ANO also has the most candidates advancing to the runoffs for 27 seats in the 81-seat Senate. The top two finishers in each district will face each other in a head-to-head vote next weekend.
With ballots from 99% of stations counted, ANO had 19 candidates advancing to the runoffs.
The Czech Statistics Office said five candidates reached the 50% threshold to win seats outright, leaving 22 seats to be decided in runoffs next week between the top two finishers in each race.
