PRAGUE — Prime Minister Andrej Babis’s ANO party failed to win a single contested seat in this weekend’s Czech Senate elections, a wipeout the billionaire populist himself called “catastrophic” — handing the pro-European opposition a renewed mandate in the upper house in one of Babis’s first big electoral tests since taking power last year.
Leading opposition parties won the most votes in Saturday’s Czech Senate elections run-off voting, cementing their majority in the 81-seat chamber, where one-third of seats were up for election.
Czech Senate elections: the results
The Czech Senate elections were decided in run-off votes held Friday and Saturday, after a first round last weekend in which no candidate secured more than 50 percent of the vote in most districts. Turnout was low.
One-third of the 81 Senate seats were contested in the Czech Senate elections, with the opposition entering the weekend already holding a majority in the upper house — a majority it has now consolidated.
In the Czech Senate elections, the pro-European Mayors and Independents party emerged as the strongest performer, winning 10 of the 14 seats it contested, including two secured outright in the first round. The Civic Democrats won seven seats.
Under the Czech electoral system, the top two candidates advance to a run-off unless one secures more than 50 percent of the vote in the first round, which is why most of the contested seats were decided this weekend.
Babis’s ANO had hoped to make gains in the upper house but failed to secure any of the seats it contested.
Babis calls the result ‘catastrophic’
Babis described the result as “catastrophic,” but the outcome is unlikely to destabilize his eurosceptic coalition government, which includes right-wing and far-right parties.
The ANO leader’s blunt assessment underscored how far the result fell short of the party’s hopes of making gains in the upper house.
Since taking office, the government has ended direct state military support for Ukraine in its war with Russia and challenged European Union climate policies — positions that have put Prague at odds with Brussels.
What the defeat means for Babis
The result is embarrassing rather than existential for Babis. His coalition’s majority in the lower house — the country’s main legislative chamber — means the government can override Senate vetoes, limiting the upper chamber’s ability to block its legislation.
But the Senate’s remaining powers are not trivial. The chamber approves constitutional changes, confirms presidential nominees to the Constitutional Court and elects its own speaker, the country’s second-highest state official after the president — a post the opposition will now continue to control.
Why the Czech Senate elections matter
The lower house remains the country’s main legislative chamber and can override Senate vetoes, limiting the upper chamber’s ability to block government legislation.
The Senate’s role as a check on constitutional changes gives the opposition leverage over any attempt by Babis’s coalition to reshape the country’s institutions, even as the lower house remains the main legislative chamber.
The Senate nevertheless plays an important role in approving constitutional changes, confirming presidential nominees to the Constitutional Court and electing its own speaker, the country’s second-highest state official after the president.
Despite the Czech Senate elections setback, ANO continues to lead national opinion polls. The government has loosened fiscal policy to boost wages, pensions and transport investment, drawing criticism in the traditionally frugal country of 10.9 million people.
The vote followed municipal elections last weekend in which ANO won six of the country’s 13 regional capitals, down from eight four years ago — a second consecutive weekend of underwhelming results for the governing party.
The Czech Senate elections were one of the government’s first big electoral tests since taking power last year. For now, the result will not shake Babis’s grip on government, but it has given the pro-European opposition its most visible victory since he returned to power — and, in the prime minister’s own word, delivered something “catastrophic” to a government that still leads the national polls.