Critics of Babis in the Czech Republic are worried that the billionaire prime minister is promising to rule the country like a business empire. It appears that the highly respected public media could be under threat.
Billionaire Andrej Babis' populist ANO party has won the Czech parliamentary election. It will now work with the far-right Freedom and Direct Democracy and the radical Motorists for Their Own Rights to form a coalition government. With the largest number of seats in parliament, ANO will have the greatest influence on cabinet policies, but the two extreme parties are likely to reinforce Babis' authoritarian instincts.
The international community's attention is largely focused on the prime minister's foreign policy. The billionaire's opponents call him the "Czech Trump" and say he will lead the country in an anti-Western and pro-Russian direction, including possible cooperation with Orban and Fico. ANO has promised to reduce support for Ukrainian refugees and stop sending weapons to Ukraine.
Babiš is no fan of Russia
In fact, the billionaire and future prime minister of the Czech Republic is not a supporter of Russia. He has repeatedly stated that the country's membership in the EU and NATO is not in question. His party won the election on promises of better social support for Czechs and lower taxes after four years of austerity introduced by the center-right government of Petr Fiala. At the same time, however, ANO has also managed to attract voters for extremist parties that want to separate the Czech Republic from the West.
The new Czech government is likely to join its illiberal neighbors on immigration and climate change. Whether Babis will try to block legislation on these issues in Brussels is not yet clear. During his previous term as prime minister, Babis was friendly with European leaders, and his eurosceptic rhetoric was kept for domestic use. These impulses will also be kept in check by the fact that Babis’s conglomerate has a network of companies across the EU.
Concerns about democracy
Critics of Babis in the Czech Republic are concerned that he is promising to run the country like a business empire. Many see this as a hint of an autocratic style of government – something that could pose a fundamental threat to the region’s most mature democracy. For example, it has already become clear that the highly respected public media could be under threat. The new government has already said it will abolish the monthly fees that citizens pay for public television and radio. They are 150 Czech crowns, or 6.15 euros, for television, and 55 Czech crowns, or 2.26 euros, for radio. Instead, they will be financed by the state.
The three parties vying to govern the Czech Republic claim that national television and radio are biased. According to expert Vaclav Stetka, changing the model of media financing is an attempt to bring them under control. During his first term, Babis was accused of trying to control Czech Television behind the scenes. Before the elections this year, he explained that he would merge public radio and television, because, in his opinion, this would save costs. Analysts and media professionals believe that this is hardly true and that this will simply cover up the attempt to control public media.
Civic energy is crucial
However, Babis will encounter obstacles on the way to mastering public media. Initially, in the person of the president, who has not yet officially approved the proposed coalition government. Pavel hinted that he might not approve of some ministers and stressed that preserving the independence of democratic institutions, including public media, is an extremely important task for any new government.
Expert Stetka commented that, unlike the cases in Hungary and Slovakia, the Czech Republic has an upper house of parliament that can act as a brake on the government. In addition, public media have the longest and most serious history in the Czech Republic of the entire region. Analysts also suspect that any actions that could threaten the independence of the media would trigger penalties under the European Media Freedom Act.
However, the biggest obstacle to controlling the media remains on the streets. Politicians across the region have been trying to bring public media to their knees since the fall of communist regimes throughout the region. In the Czech Republic, however, such attempts have ended badly. 25 years ago, an attempt by the government to control national television failed after mass protests.
Babiš is likely to provoke the same reaction if he goes down this path. The billionaire has already suffered the humiliation of the country's biggest protests since the 1989 Gentle Revolution, when a quarter of a million people demanded his resignation during his last term. It is unlikely that he will want to mark his return to power with another round of protests.