The governing parties win the Senate elections in the Czech Republic. The turnout was extremely low.
(dpa) The liberal and conservative governing parties in the Czech Republic clearly won the Senate elections and defended their majority in the parliamentary chamber. A third of the 81 seats in the House of Lords are filled every two years. After the end of the run-off elections on Saturday, Prime Minister Petr Fiala’s electoral alliance Spolu (Together) won 18 of the 27 vacant seats. The populist opposition party Ano led by ex-Prime Minister Andrej Babis only won three mandates. This came from the data of the Czech statistical authority CSU.
Participation was extremely low at 19.4 percent. The duel between Senate President Milos Vystrcil (Spolu) and ANO candidate Jana Nagyova in Jihlava (Iglau) was watched with particular excitement. Ultimately, Vystrcil, who has distinguished himself as a supporter of Ukraine and Taiwan, was able to prevail with 60 percent of the votes. Senators are elected for six-year terms. The Senate has a say in legislation and can prevent constitutional changes.
The votes were seen as the first mood test for the ruling five-party coalition since the parliamentary elections almost a year ago. The cabinet had recently come under pressure because of the high energy prices, but counteracted this with an electricity and gas price cap for households and small consumers.