PRAGUE: The ANO party of Czech billionaire and former Prime Minister Andrej Babis has slightly widened its lead over the main ruling centre-right coalition Spolu in the final poll before October’s election.
The IPSOS survey showed ANO’s support edged up by 0.4 percentage points since August to reach 32.6%.
Support for the ruling Spolu coalition fell by 0.4 points to 21.1% in the same period.
ANO has maintained a comfortable polling lead for months with promises to cut taxes, increase wages, and provide more spending support.
The party also advocates restricting immigration and pushing back against European Union green policies.
No single party is forecast to win a majority in the Czech Republic’s 200-seat lower house of parliament.
Babis, an ally of Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban, may seek support from anti-EU and pro-Russian parties if his ANO party performs strongly.
Potential coalition partners could include the SPD and Stacilo! parties or the Motorists party.
The IPSOS poll surveyed 1,467 respondents between September 22 and 28.
This is expected to be the final poll before a pre-election moratorium on polling begins on Tuesday.
The margin of error was up to 3.4 percentage points for the largest parties according to IPSOS.
ANO’s support has remained above 30% throughout 2024 while Spolu has consistently polled around 21%.
The SPD party recorded 10.1% support in the latest survey, down from 11.5% in August.
STAN, a liberal centrist pro-EU party, saw its support increase to 11.2% from 10.9% in the previous month.
The Pirates party gained support, rising to 8.7% from 7.6% in August.
Stacilo!, a far-left grouping, increased its support to 7.7% from 7.1% last month.
The Motorists party, which fights EU green policies, saw support dip to 5.4% from 5.6% in August. – Reuters
