Czech voters went to the polls on Friday and Saturday to choose a third of the Senate and renew municipal councils across the country, delivering a first-round result that leaves Prime Minister Andrej Babiš's ANO movement without a single outright Senate victory. According to the Czech Statistics Office, five of the 27 contested seats were filled in the opening round — matching the record set in 2024 — and none of those five winners came from ANO.
"Five senators were elected in the first round, equalling the historic record set in 2024," said Eva Krumpová, first deputy chair of the Statistics Office. The remaining 22 seats will be decided in runoffs, where 13 ANO candidates will face 26 contenders put forward by parties and groupings of the pro-Western opposition that have joined forces in many districts to form broad coalitions.
A fragmented map and a runoff test
The first round drew 154 candidates competing for the 27 seats, a crowded field that reflects the fragmentation of Czech politics outside the two main blocs. In the municipal vote, independent candidates and local groupings — as widely anticipated — took the largest share of seats nationwide. ANO did manage to prevail in six regional capitals, a result that preserves its presence in local government even as its Senate performance fell short of a breakthrough.
The runoffs now become the decisive stage. The opposition's decision to coordinate in many districts — pooling support behind single candidates rather than splitting the anti-ANO vote — poses a structural challenge to the prime minister's party. If those coalitions hold, ANO could see its Senate footprint limited despite advancing more candidates than any other single force.
The two-round contest was held alongside the local elections, a combination that traditionally boosts turnout and lends the Senate vote a national barometric quality. For a fuller picture of how the weekend's balloting unfolded, see our earlier report on Czech voters casting ballots in local and Senate elections.
Babiš back in power, but under scrutiny
Babiš, who led the government from 2017 to 2021, returned to the premiership after ANO's strong showing in the October 2025 parliamentary elections. The party remains the country's most popular in opinion polls and governs in a nationalist coalition with the Motorists for Themselves (AUTO) and Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) parties.
The billionaire founder of the Agrofert food and chemicals group has shifted Prague's stance on Ukraine since taking office, distancing his government from the military support that characterised the previous administration. ANO campaigned on domestic priorities — energy prices, pensions and housing — tapping into voter concerns that too much public money was being directed to Kyiv.
That position places the government at odds with President Petr Pavel, who remains a firm backer of Ukraine, as does the parliamentary opposition. The Senate, which has a reputation for a more internationalist outlook than the lower chamber, could become an institutional counterweight if the runoffs favour the pro-Western coalitions.
What the second round will decide
The runoffs will determine whether ANO can convert its national polling lead into upper-chamber seats, or whether the opposition's district-level coordination will deny it a meaningful Senate bloc. The outcome matters beyond Prague: the Czech Senate ratifies international treaties, confirms constitutional court judges and can refer legislation to the Constitutional Court, giving it a role in the country's foreign-policy orientation and its commitments within the European Union and NATO.
For now, the first round has delivered a clear signal: ANO remains the dominant single party, but it is not winning the majoritarian contests that decide the Senate. The second round will show whether that pattern holds — or whether Babiš's movement can still turn popularity into seats.
