Parliamentary elections are due to be held in the Czech Republic in October, which will decide the country’s political future. On 3 and 4 October, citizens will elect their representatives. Polls show the ANO movement of former Prime Minister Andrej Babiš as the clear favourite.
The elections to the Czech Chamber of Deputies (Poslanecká sněmovna) will take place on 3 and 4 October this year, the latest possible date. The decision was made by President Petr Pavel at the beginning of the week, the Communications Department of the President’s Office announced on its website.
Parties and movements have until 29 July to nominate their candidate lists. The regional authorities (Krajské úřady) will decide on the approval of the lists for the elections by 15 August.
Parliamentary elections must be called by the head of state within 30 days before the end of the current legislative term and at least 90 days before the election. President Pavel therefore had until the summer to announce the exact date. Four years ago, the elections to the Czech Chamber of Deputies took place on 8 and 9 October. Pavel’s predecessor, Miloš Zeman, unusually announced the date nine months in advance.
Polls show ANO as the clear favourite
The opposition ANO movement of former prime minister Andrej Babiš is clearly ahead of the coalition of ODS, KDU-ČSL and TOP 09 (Spolu) in the pre-election polls, with over 30 per cent. Some agencies place the Mayors and Independents (Starostové a nezávislí – STAN) in third place, while others see the opposition right-wing movement of Tomio Okamura, Freedom and Direct Democracy (Svoboda a přímá demokracie – SPD), which is running with the support of Trikolora, Svobodné and PRO, in third place.
Petr Fiala’s current government has been in office since 2021 and only narrowly won the last elections with the multi-party coalition Spolu (ODS, KDU-ČSL and TOP 09). Voter turnout at the time was at 65.4%.
