Czech opposition party sees strong showing in local elections

The former Czech PM Andrej Babiš arrives for his trial in Prague on Monday
Former Czech PM Andrej Babiš

PRAGUE, Sept 26 (NNN-Xinhua) — The party of former Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis, the Action of Dissatisfied Citizens (ANO), won most of the local election seats in the country’s major cities, according to the final results posted by the Czech Statistical Office (CSU) on Sunday.

ANO, which lost its mandate in the parliament last fall, came ahead in 17 of 27 major Czech cities — including eight of the 13 regional capitals. However, it came second in Prague and Brno, the two largest cities in the country.

Czechs went to polls on Friday and Saturday for municipal elections, as well as the first round of elections to one-third of the Senate.

Three of the 27 seats up for grabs in the 81-member upper chamber of the parliament were decided in the first round, according to the statistical body.

For the second round slated for Sept 30 and Oct 1, ANO will have 17 candidates, the most among individual parties, followed by the ODS and KDU-CSL. However, the ruling coalition will retain its majority in the Senate regardless of the outcome of the second round. — NNN-XINHUA

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