Babiš demands an ANO restart after a disastrous election result

Andrej Babiš on Saturday called the results of the recent municipal and Senate elections disastrous and said that the ANO movement needs a restart. He expects change from people in the regions, and says those who cannot adapt have no place in the movement.

“We have to think about why this happened, and about who in the movement works and who does not. Some of our members feel that having the brand automatically means a clear victory,” Babiš said at a press conference.

In the municipal elections ANO fell most in regions where it was traditionally strong: Moravian-Silesian, Karlovy Vary, Ústí and Liberec. The movement also lost every Senate race.

Political scientist Lukáš Jelínek considers Babiš’s criticism largely justified, even though the leader himself made a number of mistakes. “Some regional representatives of the movement will probably lose their jobs,” he said, adding that he expects reshuffles or even purges in the Moravian-Silesian Region, the Ústí Region and possibly other regions.

The leadership of ANO’s regional branches is so far silent. The head of the Karlovy Vary regional branch, Martin Hurajčík, said the results will be assessed and discussed internally first. Other regional leaders did not respond to journalists’ calls and messages. They include MP Jitka Volfová, an unsuccessful Senate candidate in the Česká Lípa area, and MP Jan Richter, who has long been out of favour with Babiš because of corruption scandals in the Ústí Region.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz