BILLIONAIRE businessman Andrej Babis is set to become the Czech prime minister after his populist ANO party scored a landslide victory in parliamentary elections.
His triumph indicates that the anti-establishment wave sweeping through western democracies has now crashed on the Czech Republic’s shores.
Not only did Babis’s party almost double its number of seats, but four of the five top parties are now seen as populist or seeking radical change.
Some call Babis, who is the country’s second-richest person, the Czech Berlusconi – a reference to Italy’s former billionaire premier.
Others consider him as a local answer to US president Donald Trump.
But while Czech president Milos Zeman is due to appoint Babis prime minister in coming days, it is thought that he might struggle to form a government.
Although it has not harmed his popular support, potential coalition partners might hesitate to join forces with someone who was charged by police earlier this month with fraud involving £1.5 million in EU subsidies dating to 2008.
The case involves a farm that received an EU subsidy after its ownership was transferred from the Agrofert conglomerate that belongs to Babis to his family members. The EU farm subsidy was meant for medium and small businesses.
Babis denies the accusations.
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