Populist billionaire poised to become Czech prime minister for second time What to know about the “Czech Trump”?

Andrej Babiš, a billionaire populist politician, appears poised to return as the Czech Republic’s prime minister for a second term as vote counting wraps up from the country’s weekend general election. Partial results released on October 4 put Babiš’s ANO party at 34.6%, ahead of the Spolu governing coalition on 23.3%, with ballots counted in more than 99.9% of voting precincts.

The results suggest that ANO has secured 80 seats in the 200-member lower house, while incumbent Prime Minister Petr Fiala’s pro-Western, center-right Spolu coalition will take just 52, according to Politico.

Though a remarkable achievement for ANO, the party fell short of an outright majority and will need to form a coalition or secure support for a minority government. Potential partners include the Motorists movement, which opposes EU Green Deal policies, and the far-right SPD, an anti-EU and anti-NATO faction—an alliance that is expected to worry many in Brussels.

The billionaire businessman has long been seen as a disruptive force in Czech politics, earning him the nickname “the Czech Trump.”

Born in the Slovak part of former Czechoslovakia to a Slovak father and a Carpathian German mother, Babiš transitioned from the state-controlled economy to private enterprise during the turbulent post-communist years after 1989. The Polish outlet TVP World recalls that he became managing director of the agricultural and chemical conglomerate Agrofert in 1993, where he built his fortune. Forbes this year estimated his net worth at $3.9 billion, making him one of the wealthiest business figures in the Czech Republic—and, through his media holdings, one of its most influential politicians.

From boardrooms to government

Babiš entered politics in 2011, founding ANO (“Action of Dissatisfied Citizens”)—a movement he described as a response to corruption, bureaucracy, and the lack of reforms in Czech politics. In the 2013 parliamentary elections, ANO won 47 seats, joining a coalition government, with Babiš serving as finance minister.

In May 2017, he was dismissed amid allegations of tax evasion linked to his role at Agrofert but quickly staged a comeback. In the October 2017 elections, his party won 78 seats, and Babiš was appointed prime minister that December, a post he held until 2021.

Like many populist leaders across Europe, Babiš has run on anti-migrant rhetoric, recently expanding his criticism to include Ukrainian refugees. Analysts predict he will reverse several key policies of the current government, including the “Czech initiative” that coordinated the supply of Western-funded artillery shells to Ukraine. He has pledged to end the program.

European partners are reportedly uneasy about his potential policy direction. While Babiš’s Euroskeptic party has ruled out pursuing a withdrawal from the EU or NATO, he has already opposed increasing defense spending to meet NATO’s new target of 5% of GDP.

By Nazrin Sadigova