‘Czech Trump’ poised to win PM race

Prague, Oct 20: A billionaire populist dubbed the “Czech Trump” looked poised to win the country’s two-day general election which starts on Friday, as polls suggest anti-EU parties could make gains that analysts warn could plunge the country into chaos.

ANO (Yes) movement chief Andrej Babis drove home his anti-euro, antimigrant and anti-corruption ticket in a final debate with Social Democrat rival Lubomir Zaoralek as campaigning wound down late on Thursday. Despite being indicted for fraud, Mr Babis has captured around 25-30 percent voter support in recent polls.

This puts ANO miles ahead of its current coalition partner the left wing Social Democrats, who scored just 12.5 percent in a recent Median agency poll.

Far-right and far-left anti-EU parties are also expected to make strong gains, with polls suggesting a fragmented parliament with up to eight parties and few obvious coalition allies. While Mr Babis has vowed to steer clear of the eurozone and echoes other eastern EU leaders who accuse Brussels of attempting to limit national sovereignty by imposing rules like migrant quotas, he favours a united Europe and balks at talk of a “Czexit”.

“We don’t want (EU migrant) quotas, we don’t want migrants here, we want to stop migration and finally want to have a prime minister who will tell Merkel and Macron that the solution lies outside Europe,” Mr Babis said in the TV debate.

— AFP