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ANO wins Czech regional election, first round of senate polls

Xinhua, October 9, 2016 Adjust font size:

The ANO movement of Czech Finance Minister Andrej Babis won the Oct. 7-8 Czech regional elections and the first round of the Senate polls, while the Social Democrats (CSSD) of Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka lost their dominant position in the regional elections.

CSSD, which has long dominated a crushing majority of the 13 self-rule regions in Czech Republic, suffered a massive loss in the elections and won in two regions only.

ANO won in nine out of the 13 regions and it had the highest number of candidates for senators advancing to the second round.

The third government party, Christian Democrats (KDU-CSL), won in one region, and the the Communists (KSCM) won in one region.

The CSSD, ANO and the KDU-CSL form the country's current coalition government. Voters' prevailing support for the government parties in the elections seemed to indicate that people were rather satisfied with the cabinet's performance.

According to data released by the Czech Statistical Office (CSU), the turnout in the Oct. 7-8 regional elections in the country was 34.6 percent, some 2.3 percent lower than in 2012. In the Senate polls' first round, the turnout was 33.5 percent.

ANO has also become the most successful party in the first round of the elections of the 81-seat Senate. Its candidates advanced in 14 Senate wards, the CSSD and the KDU-CSL in nine each.

According to some observers, the sweeping success of ANO and the CSSD's considerable loss might influence the functioning of the government coalition, in which Babis' position might rise.

Both Babis and Sobotka previously said they expected the government to rule until the end of its regular term. The next general election is due in the autumn of 2017.

This has been the first time for ANO, a party established in 2012 by Czech billionaire businessman Andrej Babis, to run in regional elections. Endit