ANO MP: Babiš’s call to scrap Senate not reaction to poor showing

ANO MP Jaroslava Jermanová says party chief Andrej Babiš’s call to scrap the Senate is not a reaction to the party’s poor showing in the second round of elections to the upper house. Speaking on Czech Television on Sunday, Ms. Jermanová said Mr. Babiš has long believed the Senate is unnecessary. However, it is not a party priority at present, she said. ANO won three seats in the second round despite doing best in the first round and having 14 candidates in contention for upper house mandates. Speaking to the news site Novinky.cz on Saturday after the vote count Mr. Babiš said the Senate was unnecessary, slowed the legislative process, cost CZK 600 million a year and no longer had the power to elect the president.

Author: Ian Willoughby