In Czech Election, a New Threat to European Unity
President Milos Zeman, a populist with strong ties to Moscow, has said
that if Ano wins, he will name Mr. Babis prime minister — even if Mr. Babis is in prison.
"You can watch him and see how he suffers in Parliament, forced to listen to other people." In a year in which Europe has teetered through a series of fateful votes — in the Netherlands, France, Britain, Germany, Spain
and then this weekend in Austria — the outcome of Czech parliamentary elections on Friday and Saturday may well determine whether a fissure between the more prosperous nations of Western Europe and the increasingly authoritarian countries of the East will widen into a chasm.
Andrej Babis, 63, who built an agribusiness and media empire in the ruins of the Soviet collapse, is the front-runner to become
the Czech Republic’s new prime minister, running as the leader of a movement he created a few years ago for that very purpose.
Following a pattern that has become familiar in European elections, the Czech vote pits longstanding mainstream
parties in decline against anti-establishment upstarts from all corners of the political spectrum.
Jiri Pehe said that He is like Trump, really,
Whether a wealthy oligarch with vast financial interests would prove as illiberal as Viktor Orban, Hungary’s populist prime minister,
and Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the leader of Poland’s governing right-wing party, remains uncertain in a country as secular and Western-oriented as the Czech Republic.
Pavel Fischer said that The other parties are trying to push Babis out of politics, but it hasn’t worked,
