Czech leader looks set to triumph

CZECHS are voting in a parliamentary election as polls show populist billionaire prime minister Andrej Babis has a good chance of keeping his job, despite a new scandal over his financial dealings.

Two days of balloting are being held to fill 200 seats in the lower house of parliament, the main legislative body in the Czech Republic. Eurosceptic Mr Babis, 67, has had a turbulent term in office, featuring numerous scandals. Police have recommended that he should be indicted over alleged fraud involving EU subsidies, and a recently published EU report concluded that Mr Babis has a conflict of interest over subsidies from the bloc involving his former business empire.

However, all polls favour his centrist ANO (Yes) movement to come first with at least 25% of the vote.

But it is not clear if Mr Babis will have a big enough margin of victory to be able to form a new coalition government.

The latest scandal links Mr Babis to offshore accounts.