ANO, the political party headed by Czech Finance Minister Andrej Babiš, swept the municipal elections in Prague as well as in nine of 13 large regional cities across the country. Voting took place on Friday and Saturday. Prague Mayor Tomáš Hudeček (TOP 09) is set to be replaced by Adriana Krnáčová, the former head of Czech Transparency International and the current deputy interior minister.
Coalition negotiations in Prague are not expected to go smoothly. ANO has refused to cooperate with TOP 09, which means the party will have to team up with the Social Democrats and Trojkoalice (the Christian Democrats–KDÚ ČSL, the Green party-SZ, and the Mayors and independents-STAN). Babiš has been an outspoken critic of Social Democrats Petr Hulínský and Karel Březina, who previously worked with former Mayor Pavel Bém (ODS). Coming as a surprise, the Czech Pirate Party won four seats in the Prague assembly for the first time.
