Billionaire businessman Andrej Babis has won parliamentary elections in the Czech Republic, although his populist ANO party fell short of an overall majority,
BBC reports.
ANO received just under 35% of the vote, earning them 80 seats in the 200-seat lower house – up from 72 seats four years ago, according to preliminary results.
Babis – who served as prime minister from 2017 to 2021 – is expected to be invited to lead talks on forming a new coalition.
"This is a historic success," Andrej Babis announced to cheering supporters at the ANO headquarters in the suburbs of Prague.
He'd entered the building holding aloft a Bluetooth speaker blasting a remix of the 1981 hit 'Sarà perché ti amo' by the Italian pop trio Ricchi e Poveri.
The same song resounded across the stage as he accepted the applause. Some colleagues – including the former finance minister Alena Schillerova – danced along to the beat.
"It's the pinnacle of my political career!" he said, adding that he and his team would now work to make the Czech Republic "the best place to live in the European Union".
But while this election has thrown up no great surprises – few had any doubt he would emerge in first place - there are still plenty of questions.
