"Czech Trump" Babis wins with populist nationalist anti-immigration majority | Eastern NC Now

Andrej Babis, who earned the nickname "the Czech Trump" in a previous term is returning to power, with an impressive win for his populist nationalist anti-immigration ANO party in the Czech parliamentary election, soundly defeating the currently governing traditional conservative coalition led by the Civic Democrats.  ANO means "Yes" in the Czech language and stands for the party's full name "Action of Dissatisfied Citizens."

ANO exceeded poll predictions, winning 34.6% of the vote and 80 seats in the 200 seat parliament.  Babis has announced he intends to form a coalition with two other populist nationalist anti-immigration parties, Freedom and Direct Democracy which won 15 seats, and Motorists for Themselves, which won 13 seats.  All three parties campaigned against illegal immigration and against the European Union's climate policy.  Freedom and Direct Democracy openly calls for a referendum to leave the EU.

https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/2117215/czech-elections-andrej-babis-european-union?int_source=nba

https://europeanconservative.com/articles/news/andrej-babis-returns-as-ano-tops-czech-elections/

https://rmx.news/commentary/we-are-so-back-babis-win-in-czechia-is-a-huge-victory-for-european-conservatives/

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/czech-trump-andrej-babis-wins-election-returns-prime-minister-latest-european-populist

https://europeanconservative.com/articles/news/babis-kicks-off-coalition-talks-after-weekend-win/

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Original post:

In his first stint as prime minister, Andrej Babis was nicknamed "the Czech Trump". Now the last poll prior to Saturday's parliamentary election shows Babis poised to return to power in the Czech Republic with his populist nationalist anti-immigration ANO Party holding a ten point lead over its nearest rival, the currently governing traditional conservative coalition built around the Civic Democrats.  ANO means "Yes" in the Czech language and is the initials of the party's full name, Action of Dissatisfied Citizens.

Babis has focused his campaign on two issues, rejecting illegal immigration, and rejecting the European Union's climate agenda which he calls "green madness".  He is a staunch eurosceptic.  Those policies are resonating with Czech voters.

Overall, the poll gives parties of the populist nationalist anti-immigration right 51% of the vote, the traditional right 31%, the traditional left 10%, the populist nationalist left 7%, and others 1%.  The once powerful Social Democrats who held the prime minister's post just before Babis' prior term have totally imploded.

https://europeanconservative.com/articles/news/eurosceptic-babis-on-track-for-election-comeback-in-czech-republic/

ANO leads with 31%, followed by the Civic Democrat led coalition, SPOLU at 21%. In third place, with 13%, is an even more strident populist nationalist party, Freedom and Direct Democracy, whose anti-immigration platform even calls for banning mosques in the country and also calls for a referendum to leave the EU. Tied for fourth at 10% each are another traditional conservative coalition, STAN and the more or less traditional left Pirate Party.  The only other party of the left in the running is Stacilo, a populist nationalist left party that also wants a referendum to leave the European Union and has said it is willing to join an ANO-led government. Stacilo is in sixth place at 7%.  In seventh, at 5%, right at the threshold to be awarded seats, is another populist nationalist right party, Motorists for Themselves who are fiercely opposed to EU climate policies and wokeness generally.  Falling below the threshold at 2% in eighth place is the populist nationalist anti-immigration Prisaha Party.

It is expected that ANO and Freedom and Direct Democracy will be the core of the new government.  If a third party is needed for a majority and it succeeds in passing the 5% threshold, Motorists for Themselves would round out the government  If not, Stacilo would probably fill that role.  They would be a better fit as the traditional conservative parties are too tied to the EU establishment.