The opposition movement Ano of former Prime Minister Andrej Babis won elections in 10 of 13 regions Czech. It is an open question whether he will be able to create a majority in them that would allow him to take up the positions of heads of voivodeships. In the elections one third of voters took part.
After counting the votes from most of the electoral commissions, the leader Ano Babis said that the results give the opposition hope of taking power in next year's parliamentary elections. In his opinion, the results show that his formation is effectively able to seek votes among the coalition's voters. On a national scale, Ano's victory in these elections leaves no doubt.
Czech election results. Opposition on top
Observers drew attention to poor results of some parties forming the coalition, centre-right government of Petra Fiala. One of the weakest results is achieved by the Czech Pirate Party (Pirati), whose chairman, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Affairs and Regional Development Ivan Bartosz, decided that the party's leadership will resign from party functions. This decision may affect the functioning of the coalition. One of the members of the Pirates is Minister of Foreign Affairs Jan Lipavsky.
Flood 2024. Moving photos from southern Poland
Regional elections were also held in flood areas. The turnout was 25% in Jeseníky, 30% in Opava, 27% in Karviná. In the entire Czech Republic, 33% of voters voted in regional elections.
Another vote next week
In the Moravian-Silesian region, which was particularly affected by the disaster, the Ano movement won, whose member is the hater Josef Bielica, who was highly praised for his actions during the flood. Voters gave similar high marks to the previous hater of the South Bohemian region, Martin Kuba, and his Civic Democratic Party (ODS), of which Prime Minister Petr Fiala is also a member.
In the Olomouc region, which was also affected by water, Ano won, but most likely the regional coalition will decide on another term for the current hater Josef Suchanek from the Mayors and Independents (STAN) party, which was also very visible during the floods.
Elections held on Friday and Saturday – outside election of members of 13 local governments throughout the Czech Republic, except Prague, which elected its authorities in 2022 – also concerned 1/3 of the senate. After the unofficial vote count, five candidates have already secured their seats. Two of them represented coalition parties, two from the Ano movement, and one of the seats was won by a candidate from an extra-parliamentary social democratic party.
In the remaining 19 single-member constituencies, voting will take place on Friday and Saturday next week. Among the issues at stake in these elections is the position of speaker of the upper house, which is currently headed by ODS-born Miloš Vystrčil.