Former PM Andrej Babis’s ANO party leads in nine of the 13 regional capitals, down from 11 in the previous elections in 2018. Credit: vlada.cz.
Prague, Sept 24 (CTK) – The senior opposition ANO movement was the largest party in most larger Czech cities in the local elections that ended today, according to the ongoing election results and CTK calculations. In Prague, a coalition of the parties which work together nationally as SPOLU (ODS, KDU-CSL, TOP 09) is ahead, while in Brno ODS and TOP 09 appear to be beating KDU-CSL into second place.
Out of the 13 regional capitals, the victory of the party of ex-PM Andrej Babis is certain in seven and probable in two, in Plzen along with the support of independents. The government parties are likely to succeed in the remaining four.
Aside from Prague and Brno, the coalition of the Mayors for the Liberec Region (SLK) with TOP 09 and KDU-CSL is leading in Liberec, North Bohemia, while ODS has won in Ceske Budejovice.
ANO has won in the regional capitals of Hradec Kralove, Jihlava, Karlovy Vary, Olomouc, Ostrava, Usti nad Labem and Zlin. Along with Plzen, it is heading for victory in Pardubice.
In the previous local elections four years ago, ANO was the largest party in 11 regional capitals; ODS won in Prague, and SLK in Liberec.
In both Brno’s two Senate races, the second round will see ANO-supported candidates go head to head with ODS candidates; the first will pit theatre director Tomas Topfer (ODS/KDU-CSL/TOP 09) against physician Borek Semrad (ANO), while the second will see former Mayor of Brno Petr Vokral (ANO) against Jiri Dusek, director of the Brno Observatory, supported by CSSD and ODS.
