The ANO party of billionaire businessman Andrej Babis was seen winning a Czech parliamentary election with around 30 percent of the vote, results projections showed on Saturday.<br /><br />The projection by the Median agency showed eight parties crossing the 5 percent threshold to win parliamentary seats.<br /><br />The centre-right Civic Democrats were seen second with 11 percent, the projection showed.<br /><br />Babis has been seen as the mostly likely prime minister, his anti-establishment, anti-corruption message touching a chord with voters. But he’s thought unlikely to win a majority and coalition talks could take weeks.<br /><br />Over half of all voting stations have reported results.<br /><br />It would be the first group to break a quarter of a century of dominance by two mainstream parties.<br /><br />In a surprise surge the far-right Freedom and Democracy party is posing a serious challenge.<br /><br />Although he’s pro-EU membership, Babis has taken a tough line against further EU ntegration, being obliged to accept refugees and adopting the euro.<br /><br />He’s remained popular despite accusations of conflicts of interest.<br /><br />The Czech president has said he’ll allow a month for coalition negotiations before calling a new parliament – and has no objection to talks involving the far-left or far-right.<br /><br />with Reuters<br />
