Czech PM Andrej Babiš's ANO party wins regional elections, Pirates make big gains

Prague Oct 3 (ČTK) - Prime Minister Andrej Babiš's ANO party won the October 2–3 regional elections in the Czech Republic, coming in first in 10 of the 13 regions in the country, according to ČTK's calculation based on the data on the election website.

However, ANO faces a risk of having many fewer posts as regional governors compared to four years ago.

The Mayors and Independents (STAN) movement won in the Central Bohemia Region, the Mayors of Liberec Region (SLK) in the Liberec Region, and the coalition of the Civic Democrats (ODS), STAN and East Bohemians (Východočeši) in the Hradec Králové Region.

ANO did not defend its victories in the Central Bohemia and Hradec Králové regions, but for the first time won in the Vysočina and South Bohemia regions, where its government coalition partner, the Social Democrats (ČSSD) won four years ago, and in the Zlín Region, where the Christian Democrats (KDU-ČSL) dominated in the previous elections.

ANO also defended its victory in the Moravia-Silesia, Ústí nad Labem, Olomouc, Pardubice, Plzeň, Karlovy Vary and South Moravia regions.

In total, ANO will have 178 mandates in the regional assemblies, two more than in 2016.

Four years ago, ANO won in nine out of the 13 regions, but ultimately filled only five seats of regional governors.

The runner-up ČSSD had the same number of governors thanks to post-election coalitions, though it only won in two regions, while the KDU-ČSL and the SLK won in one region each.

Babiš may face the same threat of not having governors in all winning regions, except for the Ústí nad Labem and Moravia-Silesia regions where ANO's position is strong.

In some regions where ANO won, other parties are negotiating about a ruling coalition without ANO.

In the Pardubice Region, for instance, parties from the current coalition have already agreed to continue without ANO and talks about a coalition of the KDU-ČSL, Pirates, ODS and STAN parties are underway in the South Moravia Region.

The ČSSD and the KSČM parties lost the highest number of mandates compared to the 2016 elections. The Social Democrats lost 88 and will have 37, while the number of the Communist mandates dropped from 86 to 13. The Christian Democrats (KDU-ČSL) lost eight and will have 53 seats in the regional assemblies.

The Pirates gained about 20 times more mandates than four years ago; their number rises from five to 99. The ODS will have the same number of seats, 99, in the regional assemblies, gaining 23 more. STAN won another 31 seats of regional representatives and will have 69, while TOP 09 will keep its 19 seats.

The anti-EU far-right Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) will get 35 mandates, almost twice as many as in 2016 when it gained 18.