Yesterday and today (October 3rd-4th) citizens of 🇨🇿 Czech Republic go to polls to vote in parliamentary elections!
Czech parliament is bicameral, being made of two chambers:
* Upper Senate, which has limited (albeit crucial in some areas, e.g. constitution and international affairs) role, and is being filled in staggered elections each two years, for a six-year terms (last election was in Sep 2024, next will be in 2026);
* And lower Chamber of Deputies (Poslanecká sněmovna), which has 200 seats (101 needed for majority), who are elected for a four-year terms (new one now), in 14 multi-member constituencies (varying in size from 8 to 26 deputies), by party list proportional representation. Seats are allocated using d'Hondt method and the Imperiali and Droop (or Hagenbach-Bischoff) quotas. Read more here. Electoral threshold is 5% for parties, and 7 or 11% for coalitions (only Spolu is registered as coalition).
Turnout in last (2021) elections was 65.4%.
Relevant parties and alliances taking part in the elections are:
| Name | Leader | Position | Affiliation | x result | Recent polling | Exit poll | Seats (change) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yes (ANO) | Andrej Babiš | right-wing (populist) | PfE | 27.1% | 30-33% | TBA | (72) |
| Together (Spolu) | Petr Fiala | centre-right (conservative liberal) | ECR, EPP | 27.8% | 19-21% | TBA | (71) |
| Freedom & Direct Democracy (SPD) | Tomio Okamura | far-right (nationalist, hard anti-EU) | ESN | 9.6% | 12-13% | TBA | (19) |
| Mayors & Independents (STAN) | Vít Rakušan | centre-right (liberal, localist) | EPP | (15.6%) | 11-12% | TBA | (33) |
| Pirates | Zdeněk Hřib | centre-left (progressive, liberal) | Greens/EFA | (15.6%) | 9-10% | TBA | (4) |
| Enough! (Stačilo!) | Kateřina Konečná | left-wing (social conservative, soft anti-EU) | NI, PES | 8.3% | 7% | TBA | (-) |
| Motorists for Themselves (Auto) | Filip Turek | right-wing (conservative libertarian) | PfE | new | 6-7% | TBA | (-) |
| Oath (Prisaha) | Robert Šlachta | right-wing (populist) | PfE | 4.7% | 2-3% | TBA | (-) |
Poll stations will close on 2 PM local time, Saturday.
Further reading
How to watch the Czech election like a pro (Politico)
Czech elections: What you need to know (TVP)
Czechia election: The specter of populism returns (DW)
Czech elections, spectre of Andrej Babiš worries EU (and Ukraine) (EUNews)
Czechs vote in elections that could usher in populist billionaire (Aljazeera)
by pothkan
4 comments
Alas, the curse of the incumbent is ever-present. The Fiala Cabinet has done very poorly when it comes to avoiding scandals, and austerity – whether necessary or not – is never a shortcut to popularity.
I think ANO will bag this one. What happens next is far less certain. Though I am inclined to agree with this analysis, in that the current government parties will probably [have to extend an olive branch and perhaps provide confidence and supply to Babis in exchange for sticking to the western path](https://www.gmfus.org/news/world-according-andrej-babis).
If SPOLU et al drive ANO into the arms of the even crazier fringe parties like SPD and Stacilo, then honestly the “pro-Europeans” will be just as much to blame for Czechia’s future pro-Russian politics as Babis will be.
Is there a groope as “silent majority” in the Czech Republic that could significantly change the results of polls?
“Polling stations will be open from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Friday and from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday. For the first time ever, Czechs can vote by correspondence from abroad.
When do we get the results?
Results will start trickling in after polls close. Preliminary results are expected late Saturday afternoon and final totals in the evening.”
(Politico)
Stačilo! aren’t just “soft anti-eu”. They are just commie version of SPD.
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