Ruling party narrowly loses Czech vote; PM Babis may be out

By KAREL JANICEK
Associated Press

PRAGUE (AP) — Prime Minister Andrej Babis’s centrist party has narrowly lost the Czech Republic’s parliamentary election, a surprise development that could mean the end of the populist billionaire’s reign in power. With all the votes counted, the Czech Statistics Office said Together, a liberal-conservative three-party coalition, captured 27.8% of the vote, beating Babis’s ANO (Yes) party, which won 27.1%. In another blow to the populists, another center-left liberal coalition of the Pirate Party and STAN, a group of mayors, received 15.6% of the vote to finish third. The two coalitions have enough support together to create a new government. One analyst called the results “a huge defeat” for Babis.