Czech Election Winner Babis Signals Cabinet Talks Still Weeks Away

The Czech Republic’s election-winning ANO party is currently focused on drafting a joint policy agenda with two smaller parties and expects to begin negotiations over cabinet positions next month, party leader Andrej Babiš said on Tuesday—indicating that formal talks are still weeks from concluding.

Babiš, a billionaire and former prime minister, led his populist ANO movement to victory in the October 3–4 parliamentary elections, positioning the party to replace Prime Minister Petr Fiala’s center-right government.

ANO is in discussions to form a coalition with the right-wing, Eurosceptic Motorists Party and the far-right, EU- and NATO-opposed SPD Party, which together would command 108 seats in the 200-member lower house of parliament.

Babiš said last week he hoped the negotiations would be completed and an agreement finalized before the newly elected lower house convenes on November 3.

“We’re currently focused on discussing the policy program, which will take the most time, and on finalizing the coalition agreement,”
Babiš said in a Facebook video posted Tuesday.

He added that discussions over cabinet appointments would likely begin “in about a month or six weeks.”

President Petr Pavel, who under the constitution has the authority to appoint the next prime minister, has urged the parties not to rush the process of forming the new government.

Before the formal resignation of the outgoing cabinet, the lower house will first elect its new speaker—an essential procedural step before a new prime minister can be appointed.

Babiš said last week that the three parties had already agreed on how to divide ministerial portfolios but had not yet finalized individual nominees.

A vocal admirer of Donald Trump and an ally of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Babiš has pledged to prioritize domestic and EU affairs while scaling back support for Ukraine—potentially including a review or cancellation of the Czech program to supply artillery to Kyiv.

ANO, which belongs to the Patriots for Europe group in the European Parliament, also plans to resist implementing previously agreed EU migration and decarbonization commitments.

The Motorists Party, also a member of the Patriots group, opposes the phase-out of combustion engines and other climate policies.

Meanwhile, the SPD has called for referendums on withdrawing from the EU and NATO, a proposal Babiš has firmly rejected.