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Andrej Babiš has met with Czech President Petr Pavel and will conduct talks with other political leaders as he embarks on the challenging process of forming a stable government following his ANO party won the election while missing an clear majority.

Voting Figures

Official results indicated ANO secured 34.5% of electoral support from the weekend polling, representing a provisional 80 seats in the 200-member parliament. The center-right alliance under outgoing Prime Minister Petr Fiala placed second with 23.4%.

"I've committed to present the president a solution that will adhere to national and EU legislation," Babiš declared ahead of Sunday's discussions got under way.

Governing Hurdles

While celebrating the "unprecedented achievement" as "the absolute peak" of his governmental journey, Babiš confronts major challenges both to assume the premiership and to gain and preserve support for the minority administration he has suggested.

Multiple political groups have already ruled out entering a coalition with ANO, compelling Babiš to pursue support from fringe rightwing groups. "We're initiating talks with the SPD and the Motorists, and aim for a single-party government headed by ANO," he declared.

Policy Positions

The leader, listed as the nation's seventh wealthiest individual with an calculated wealth of $3.9 billion, ran on vows for quickened expansion, higher wages and pensions and decreased levies. He also vowed to oppose the EU's border policy and green deal, and to discontinue the military aid project, instead backing Ukraine exclusively through EU channels.

Potential Allies

ANO shares certain similarities with the far-right SPD, which similarly rejects EU climate and immigration policies – as does the minor conservative Motorists faction.

The more extreme Moscow-friendly, anti-alliance, anti-bloc SPD also ran on a "Czech exit" promise to withdraw Czechia from the union, which Babiš has categorically rejected. He has consistently maintained his party is "pro-European, and pro-alliance".

Negotiation Dynamics

Both the Motorists and the SPD have expressed openness to discussions with ANO, but it continues ambiguous how far any group will opt to sustain a minority ANO government as opposed to attempting a formal alliance agreement – or what duration such support might endure.

Election experts commented that the SPD's vote share was significantly lower than the predicted 13% ahead of polling, meaning its bargaining power in negotiations concerning confidence-and-supply deal would not be as strong as previously imagined.

Legal Framework

Even when Babiš is ultimately capable to show the president – who overcame the businessman in last year's presidential race – with a cross-faction arrangement representing a legislative control in parliament, his difficulties might remain.

The president declared before the election that he would not approve any government officials who sought Czechia's withdrawal from the EU or from Nato. He has also mentioned he was seeking guidance from lawyers regarding a potential ethical concern concerning Babiš himself.

International Reactions

European far-right leaders including Budapest's leader, who declared digitally that "Facts have triumphed!", and the French nationalist, who said "sovereignty movements" were being "summoned to govern throughout the continent", have celebrated the outcome.

Nevertheless, while ANO is part of the conservative EU legislature faction and Babiš has characterized himself as an admirer of Orbán, the EU's disruptor-in-chief, it is ambiguous regarding how much he will align himself with the Eurosceptic movement.

Analyst Perspectives

Government experts say Babiš's politics are more pragmatic than doctrinal and that he is improbable to start a significant dispute with European authorities as long as the Czech Republic requires European financing and the leader's companies continue to profit from the union.

National bodies are also expected to limit the leader domestically, with radical shifts likely to be hindered by the senate, which can veto any proposed electoral law or basic statute modifications and must confirm judicial appointments named to the highest legal authority.