Czechs wrapped up voting in a tight election on Saturday in which Prime Minister Andrej Babis battled criticism that he mismanaged the pandemic, stoked fast-rising debt with handouts and tended to his own business interests in office.
The billionaire, who denies all the accusations, and his populist ANO party took a slight poll lead going into the central European country's vote.Voting ended at 2 p.m. and results will start to come through later on Saturday.
ANO was unlikely to secure a majority but looked certain to win more votes than any single party, giving the premier the first shot at forming the next government. "I don't like how the government has been running, the disorganisation during the pandemic and how they are piling up debt because they are just populists throwing money around."The opposition has blamed Babis for chaotic policy changes during the peak of pandemic. More than 30,000 people have died from the virus, one of Europe's worst per-capita death tolls.
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