Populist party of billionaire Andrej Babiš wins big in Czech parliamentary election World Oct 5, 2025 1:45 PM EDT

PRAGUE (AP) — Four years ago, it seemed that the days in politics of billionaire Andrej Babiš were numbered.

The ANO movement Babiš created (an abbreviation of Action of Dissatisfied Citizens that means “Yes” in Czech) to counter mainstream political parties was defeated in October 2021 by a coalition of pro-Western groups. The populist leader was expected to make good on his promise to quit, rather than end up in opposition.

Instead, he immediately launched an aggressive campaign blaming the ruling coalition for every problem, from the energy crisis to soaring inflation. He promised to revoke a much-resented increase in the state pension age and to end help for Ukraine,

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