Minerva: Valg i Tsjekkia – Største populistiske gjennombrudd siden Brexit

Our Christian Kvorning Lassen contributed with his comments on the situation after the Czech legislative election 2017 for the Norweigan periodical Minerva.

The article by Ingebjørg Sofie Larsen in Norweigan periodcial Minerva deals with the after-election situation in the Czech Republic. Although Andrej Babiš won the election, with quite suprising margin, he does not have an easy position because most of the parties are reluctant to form a coalition government with his ANO party as the leader of the party Andrej Babiš, a potential czech PM, has been accused of curruption.

Christian also added that ODS (The Civic Democratic Party) was the only traditional party to score more than 10% (11,3%) and ended up on the second place. Pirate party ended up on the third place with 10,8% and nationalist SPD party fourth with 10,6% of the votes. 

The Czechs have clearly agreed to choose anti-establishment rather than the usual parties," says Christian Kvorning Lassen from the czech think-tank EUROPEUM to Minerva.

What are the possible coalitions? 

One is a continuation of the current coalition, Christian Democrats, Social Democrats and the ANO party. The second option is a coalition between ANO and Liberal Conservative ODS, possibly with the center party Christian Democrats. "But both of these options depend on the other parties willingnes to swallow an opposition against Babis," said Lassen."The last option for Babis is a coalition with the nationalist  far-right SPD party and the communist far-left party KSCM", says Lassen. This is a coalition Babis himself has stated he does not want and the parties have little in common other than skepticism towards the EU, moreover Babis is a more pragmatic EU skeptic than the parties on the far right and left wing.

Read the full story in Norweigan here at Minerva.no. 

Christian Kvorning Lassen
Deputy Director & Head of Research

Expertise: Migration/European migration crisis, EU foreign policy, Scandinavian politics, populism, EU enlargement policy