A political group headed by Prime Minister Andrej Babiš maintained a lead on Saturday following the first round of voting in the Czech Republic. The election, which aims to fill one-third of the seats in the 81-member Senate, showed the centrist ANO (YES) movement led by the populist billionaire positioning 13 candidates to advance to next week’s runoffs, according to results from more than 93% of polling stations.
Currently, the Senate is controlled by pro-Western opposition parties, and ANO is seeking to increase its influence within the chamber. While the lower house of Parliament remains the primary force in the legislative process, the Senate holds significant authority regarding the approval of Constitutional Court judges and the passage of constitutional amendments. Twenty-seven seats were contested in this round.
Preliminary data from the Czech Statistics Office indicated that no ANO candidates reached the 50% threshold required to secure a seat outright. Up to six candidates across all parties achieved this mark, leaving 21 seats to be decided in head-to-head runoffs between the top two finishers in each respective race.
These elections serve as the first electoral test for Babiš since he regained power following a victory in the October 2025 parliamentary elections. Babiš currently leads a governing coalition alongside two smaller political groups, which have campaigned on platforms that include rejecting specific European Union policies and reducing support for Ukraine.
In simultaneous local elections, independent candidates and groupings appeared to secure the majority of seats nationwide, reflecting a traditional outcome. While the ANO movement was on track for victory in several regional capitals, it did not secure a lead in Prague.
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