From inflation to identity: what Czechia’s vote says about Babiš, Brussels and the future
In a new episode of Czechast, journalist Daniel Kaiser of Echo24 speaks about the recent Czech elections. The vote ended with a clear defeat for the governing coalition and opened the door for Andrej Babiš to reclaim power.
The government that lost its way
Although Czechast usually steers clear of day-to-day politics, this time the topic was too important to ignore. After the recent parliamentary elections, it seems that the Czech government is about to change—and possibly the direction in which the country itself is heading. That is why Vit Pohanka decided to speak with his former colleague from the Czech Section of the BBC World Service, now commentator and writer for Echo24, Daniel Kaiser—who is also the author of a book about former president Václav Havel. According to him, the October elections were above all a verdict on the outgoing government rather than a triumph of the opposition.
“The losers are obviously the current government—actually four governing parties altogether. The government had a rather bad record on most things, starting with electricity prices and inflation.”
Over the past four years, inflation reached nearly 40 percent and purchasing power fell below 2020 levels. Kaiser argues that voters punished Prime Minister Petr Fiala’s coalition not only for economic hardship but also for waging what he calls a “bogus campaign” focused on grand ideological battles such as ‘democracy versus autocracy’ instead of everyday concerns.
“It was a phony, bogus dilemma. And they lost—which, given what I just said, they probably deserved.”
A new coalition with an anti-EU edge
The three parties now negotiating a government could hardly be more different: ANO, SPD, and the new Motorists’ Party (Motoristé sobě).
Kaiser describes ANO, led by Andrej Babiš, as a “catch-all” movement whose direction depends entirely on its leader’s mood.
“ANO calls itself a centrist movement, but in reality its policies depend heavily on what Babiš thinks on any given day.” Alongside Babiš’s pragmatism, the SPD brings economic populism and cultural conservatism, while the Motorists add a dose of right-wing libertarianism mixed with Euroscepticism. Their common denominator is resistance to what they see as overreach from Brussels—particularly in environmental and climate policy.
Kaiser predicts that if this coalition materializes, “the government will be mildly anti-EU, which is quite a change.”
The enigmatic figure of Andrej Babiš
Born in Slovakia to a communist family, Andrej Babiš entered Czech politics more than a decade ago as a billionaire businessman. Though once seen as a centrist technocrat, he has since aligned himself with the far-right bloc in the European Parliament.
Kaiser notes that Babiš has “developed a passion for politics” and now presents himself as a champion of ordinary people against the political class. His past as a member—and registered collaborator—of the communist secret police no longer stirs outrage in a country where even the current president once worked for military intelligence.
Could there be a “Czech Babiš” in Poland?
The interview concludes with a cultural comparison that highlights Czechia’s political peculiarities. “Probably not,” Kaiser says when asked if someone like Babiš could succeed in Poland. Czech society, he argues, is far less nationalistic and more tolerant of outsiders in power.
He points out that even the leader of the nationalist SPD, Tomio Okamura, is of partly Japanese-Korean origin, and that one of Prague’s former mayors was Slovak. “Imagine a Ukrainian-born mayor of Warsaw speaking Polish with a Ukrainian accent,” Kaiser adds. “They would get rid of him immediately. But in Prague, no one even noticed.”
Listen to the full interview
Hear the complete conversation with Daniel Kaiser in the latest episode of Czechast, the podcast about all things Czech — culture, politics, and society.
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Czechast, Radio Prague International
Czechast is a regular RPI podcast about Czech and Moravian culture, history, and economy.
