Czechs wrap 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 tend to his own business interests in office.
The billionaire Babis, who denies all the accusations, and his populist ANO party took a slight poll lead into the central European country's election, which started on Friday and closes on Saturday at 2 p.m. CET .Babis vowed in his campaign to continue raising public sector wages and pensions, hoping to shore up the basis of his popular support after years of rising prosperity.
While pre-election polls indicated the ANO was unlikely to secure a majority, Babis's party looked certain to emerge as the biggest vote getter, giving the premier the first shot at forming the next government. His big-spending policies, which he has stuck with despite a broad recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, mark a break from traditional Czech fiscal prudence. The European Union member state's debt is set to be among the fastest growing in the bloc, albeit from a low base.The opposition also blame Babis for chaotic policy changes during the pandemic, which has claimed more than 30,000 Czech lives, one of Europe's worst per-capita death tolls.
The 67-year-old put his Agrofert conglomerate of food, agriculture, chemical and media companies in trust funds that year and has denied wrongdoing, saying the moves met legal obligations. But a European Commission audit determined otherwise and it has stopped development grants to Agrofert.
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