Czech opposition outpaced the ruling party in first round of Senate election

PRAGUE (AP) — A political group led by Prime Minister Andrej Babiš faced a strong challenge from the opposition in the Czech Republic’s first round of voting to fill one-third of the seats in Parliament’s upper house, the Senate, according to the final results released on Sunday.

With all the votes counted by the Statistics Office, the centrist ANO (YES) movement led by the populist billionaire has the most, 13, candidates advancing to next week’s runoffs.

But the parties and groups of parliamentary pro-Western opposition that joined forces in many districts in broad coalitions, have altogether 26 candidates making the next round.

Also, of the five candidates who reached the 50% threshold to win seats outright, none of them was from ANO, while four represent opposition parties.

ANO hopes to make gains in the 81-seat Senate, which is controlled by the opposition. Twenty-seven Senate seats are up for grabs with 22 left to be decided in the runoffs between the top two finishers in each race.

Parliament’s lower house dominates the legislative process, but the Senate plays an important role in passing constitutional amendments and approving Constitutional Court judges.

In separate local elections, various independent candidates and groupings appeared to be winning most seats nationwide, a traditional result. ANO won in six regional capitals, two fewer than at the previous 2022 vote, and not in Prague.

The elections are the first test for Babiš since he returned to power after a decisive victory in parliamentary elections in October 2025.

Babiš has formed a governing coalition with two small political groups whose agenda includes reducing support for Ukraine and rejecting some key European Union policies.

His coalition partners have no candidate in the Senate runoffs.