‘Czech Trump’ scores major lead in national election

The billionaire Andrej Babis is set to be the Czech Republic’s next prime minister after his centrist ANO party won 30 percent of the vote in two-day elections that ended Saturday, according to initial poll results. The country’s second-richest man and former finance minister has been dubbed the “Czech Trump” for his populist anti-establishment rhetoric — including lambasting the press as morons.

Speaking after the victory, Babis said he and his party wanted to take a more active role in shaping European Union policy, and that Brussels should stop thinking about a two-track Europe and pay more attention to the reasons why the UK voted to leave the bloc.

The center-right Civic Party came in at a distant second will a little more than 11 percent of the vote, and has said it refuses to enter coalition talks with ANO while Babis is under investigation for corruption.

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