ANO, the party of Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, loses all 13 seats contested in the second round of elections for the Czech Senate

The ANO movement, led by Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, failed to win any of the 13 seats for which its candidates reached the second round of elections to the Czech Senate, held on Friday and Saturday. The result represents a major defeat for the governing party, which also lost the only Senate seat it held among those being contested.

Andrej Babiš described the result as “catastrophic,” but said it gives the party leadership an opportunity to assess the performance of local organizations and prepare a reorganization. The prime minister blamed the defeat on insufficient voter mobilization and said the government’s strategy would not be changed.

The opposition achieved the best results. The Mayors and Independents movement (STAN) won 10 of the 27 seats contested. The party’s leader, Vít Rakušan, said the election had demonstrated that the opposition could defeat the governing party and that STAN wanted to become ANO’s main rival in the next parliamentary elections.

In the Czech Republic, senators serve six-year terms, and one-third of the Senate seats are renewed every two years. The result does not currently threaten the government’s stability, as ANO continues to lead in national polls, but the opposition retains control of the upper house of Parliament.