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Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis, a populist leader in the mold of Donald Trump, has suffered an election setback as elections saw the Czech Conservative party gain approximately one third of the seats in the upper house of parliament.
With nearly all the votes counted Saturday by the Statistics Office, the Civic Democratic Party won 10 of the 27 seats up for grabs in the 81-seat Senate in the two-round election.
Babis’ ANO (YES) centrist movement and its coalition partner, the leftist Social Democrats, won only one seat each.
The opposition parties now control the Senate, reported Associated Press. The communist party was also removed from representation in the Senate, a member of the previous coalition.
In the Czech system the lower house controls legislation but the upper house is important for appointing judges and other significant governing procedures.
Babis narrowly formed a government last cycle, joining with the communist party to the chagrin of his supporters, and this development will make it harder for him to govern the Eastern European country. The opposition remains uncomfortable with accusations against the PM of corruption in previous dealings with the European Union and his business empire.
