“He had an excellent final spurt,” said Babis, referring to the turnaround in the dramatic counting of votes. Babis spoke about an “excellent election result” of his movement, at the same time he complained that “five parties” had stood against him, which had the “only goal: to remove Babis from politics”. “But that’s life, we accept it,” said the obviously disappointed head of government.
Babis said he was ready to hold talks about the formation of a future government if President Milos Zeman asked him to do so. “We will speak to Spolu, but under no circumstances will we speak to the pirates,” said Babis. In this context he stressed that “we are the strongest party”. He was obviously referring to Zeman’s earlier statement that the head of state would appoint the leader of the strongest party, not the strongest electoral alliance, to form a government.
The victory of Spolu – an association made up of the conservative Democratic Citizens’ Party (ODS), the Christian Democratic People’s Party (KDU-CSL) and the civil-liberal TOP 09 – only became clear at the very end of an exciting vote count. Another opposition electoral alliance of left-wing liberal pirates and the conservative Mayor’s Party (STAN) landed in third place with 15.6 percent. Spolu and Piraten / STAN can expect a total of 108 seats in the 200-strong House of Representatives. The right-wing populist, EU-critical and Islamophobic Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) party led by Tomio Okamura also made it into the House of Commons with 9.6 percent.
No other party will be represented in the future Czech House of Representatives. The previously co-governing Social Democrats (CSSD), the Communists (KSCM) and the new Prisaha (Oath) party of the former elite police officer Robert Slachta all remained under the five percent electoral honor. For the first time in three decades, the CSSD and KSCM will not be represented in the House of Commons. The CSSD leader Jan Hamacek announced his resignation from the party leadership.
Spolu and Piraten / STAN have meanwhile confirmed their intention to form a joint government and thus send ANO and Babis into the opposition. “The era of Babis is coming to an end. A success for democratic parties,” declared Pirates’ chief Ivan Bartos.
The ODS boss Fiala, who is Spolu’s candidate for the office of head of government, spoke of a “turnaround” and the “victory of a decent policy of values”. The scar that remained in the Czech Republic after the previous government will be “healed,” said Fiala.
Attention, meanwhile, is focused on who Zeman will entrust the government. Zeman, who is considered to be Babis’ ally, has not yet responded to the election result. Tomorrow, Sunday, he will receive Babis in the presidential residence in Lany, Central Bohemia, announced Zeman’s spokesman Jiri Ovcacek.
The honorary chairman of TOP 09, Karel Schwarzenberg, said on Saturday that Zeman will definitely place the order with Babis and “will try to keep him (Babis) until the end of his presidential term”. “He is clever. He interprets the constitution as it suits him,” said Schwarzenberg. He alluded to the fact that the head of state can appoint any person to be prime minister regardless of the election result and that the constitution does not give him any deadlines for procedural steps. Zeman had used this power several times in the past. Fiala hoped that Zeman would respect the election result after all.
The last days before the election were overshadowed by disclosures of the so-called “Pandora Papers” about business by Prime Minister Babis. According to the publications of an international investigative journalist network, Babis is said to have bought several properties in southern France for 15 million euros in 2009. The transaction is said to have been processed through foreign letterbox companies, which, according to critics, raises the question of whether money laundering and tax evasion were not committed.
