Poll: ANO leads race for Prague City Assembly, one-fifth of voters still undecided

A fresh opinion poll suggests that the ANO movement would win the upcoming elections to Prague's City Assembly. Seven political groupings could make it into the assembly altogether, including the ruling SPD with 5.4% of the vote and the Motorists party with exactly 5% — the minimum threshold needed to win seats. According to the survey, however, one-fifth of voters have yet to make up their minds.

Third place would go to the "Spolu pro Prahu" coalition (ODS and TOP 09), with 13.9%. The "Prague for Itself" movement would take 12.9% of the vote, while the Pirates would come in at 10.8%. Notably, these last two parties traditionally draw younger voters, whereas support for ANO is markedly stronger among Prague's older residents.

ANO's return to power in the capital

ANO already ran Prague once in the last decade — Adriana Krnáčová served as mayor from 2014 to 2018. This time, the leading governing party's candidate for the post is Jan Gušbauer, a politician from Prague 4. He took the top spot on the party's "Prague number one" list in June of this year, replacing Ondřej Prokop, who left politics after discrepancies emerged in his asset declarations.

According to Přemysl Čech, director of the Median polling agency, ANO's steady support reflects the gradual entrenchment of a movement created "from the top" in local politics across the country — a process that has now reached Prague as well. "The movement has become the dominant force on the political scene and is seen as a kind of social elevator — for part of society, that matters a great deal, which is why ANO has strong personnel even at the local level," he noted.

The expert added that parties in opposition at the national level, by contrast, now bear the burden of responsibility for Prague's current leadership: Praguers tend to view the outgoing administration's record and the mayor's performance rather unfavourably. Their national-level fragmentation and lack of a clear leader play an additional role in dragging down their prospects.

Turnout and voter mood

According to Median, 46% of Praguers say they will definitely vote, while another 16% lean towards taking part. At the same time, 18% of respondents said they definitely will not vote, and a further 10% are more likely to stay home. A tenth of respondents have yet to decide whether they will take part at all.

Pirate supporters report the highest turnout intentions — 69% of them say they will definitely vote, compared with 61% for supporters of "Prague for Itself" and 50% for ANO backers. Among those still undecided about which party to support, 34% say they will definitely head to the polls.

The survey was conducted between 31 August and 3 September among 731 respondents. The study of electoral preferences covers the entire population, including those still unsure whether they will vote, whereas the electoral model itself excludes respondents who do not plan to take part. Czech municipal elections will take place on Friday and Saturday, 9 and 10 October.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz