ODS:CZ - They promised lower taxes, cheaper mortgages, and higher travel subsidies. In short: everything for everyone. Instead, Andrej Babiš and Tomio Okamura avoided criminal prosecution. What is the six-month record of the cabinet led by ANO, SPD, and Motorists? Andrej Babiš once again confuses his role as Prime Minister with that of Agrofert's owner: his government sends the holding back to public funds, and the ruling majority rewrites the conflict-of-interest law because of him. The government continues to burden the country with debt and seeks to take over public service media. After six months, it is no longer sufficient to ask what the government has achieved; a far more uncomfortable question arises: who now owns the state?
Let us therefore examine how this formula unfolds step by step. The first rule that the ruling majority bent was equality before the law. Members of ANO, SPD, and Motorists blocked access to justice and created an untouchable caste. Andrej Babiš and Tomio Okamura were not handed over for criminal prosecution in the cases involving Čapí hnízdo (Stork's Nest) and racist posters by the SPD movement. However, political cover was also provided. It later emerged that Andrej Babiš lied again when he claimed to have resolved his conflict of interest and renounced Agrofert. Meanwhile, his government sent the holding back to public funds. If Brussels ultimately does not recognize the subsidies, Czech taxpayers will pay for them.
It is not only about today's subsidies that Agrofert receives; seven billion from the past are also at stake, which the state was supposed to collect after the holding. However, following Babiš's return to Strakovka (his headquarters), inexplicably, the agricultural fund decided not to pursue these funds. When laws hinder Andrej Babiš's business interests, the ruling majority simply changes them. Motorists, SPD, and ANO aim to legislate a relaxation of bans on subsidies, investment incentives, and public contracts for companies owned by government members, while simultaneously retroactively cleaning up spending that required Agrofert to return billions. Lex Babishistan.
Accounting Not Just for Agrofert
Besides the account regarding Agrofert, this government has issued another one: this year's budget shows a deficit of 310 billion crowns. Merely servicing state debt will cost approximately 110 billion crowns this year alone. This fiscal rodeo is essentially stealing the future from citizens, Czech companies, and younger generations. Yet even such debts are not enough for the government; this is most clearly illustrated by a rubber clause that would allow obtaining a blank check for an additional 240 billion annually under the pretext of "worsened security situation." The Senate attempted to reintroduce clear conditions and parliamentary oversight into the proposal, but the ruling majority rejected it in the final chamber vote.
After public funds, Babiš's government now seeks control over public opinion. It wants to abolish fees for Czech Television and Český rozhlas (Czech Radio) but has not specified where it will find the missing 7.8 billion crowns: whether by raising taxes, further burdening the country with debt, or taking money from schools, healthcare, or security. Meanwhile, it is more than clear that Babiš wants to tame public service media at gunpoint; however, these institutions are meant to monitor the government, not beg for funds from it. The same authoritarian mentality was displayed by Oto Klempíř when he "resolved" Martina Baxa's situation while using terminology reminiscent of StB (State Security) informants and fixers who confuse public office with personal settlement.
The plumber's remark is not an isolated outburst. The government translates this perspective into its offices, councils, and inspections. Drivers were supposed to keep watch on Andrej Babiš; instead, they are put through a show of work that amounts to nothing while displaying the arrogance of untrained clerks. In Petr Macinka’s case, his own pettiness and vindictiveness prevail. At the Ministry of Environment, this arrogance even escalated into a ruse designed to get Filip Turek appointed as minister via back doors; in fact, the ministry is now effectively run by Filip Turek himself. He speaks of employees as “parasites” who must be “rat-proofed,” while Macinka labels those with differing opinions as “worthless” or even berates them as fools at a festival in Strážnice.
The same attitude toward power also manifests in the handling of public assets. They promised accessible housing, yet they address it only for themselves—for instance, Minister Zuzana Mrázová used to reside in a 130-square-meter municipal apartment in Bíliny for approximately 4,500 crowns per month, and there is even suspicion that she seeks to legalize black construction on her own land. Babiš’s right-hand woman Tünde Bartha holds onto a municipal flat in Prague District 3 despite living elsewhere. Ondřej Prokop concealed three cooperative apartments until journalists confronted him with evidence; he then remembered them only after being cornered by the press. An awkward excuse and another chapter in housing scandals for a movement that continues to boast about its anti-corruption stance.
Don't Get Used to Babišistan
These cases are not merely personal embarrassments of several individuals within the ANO party. They reveal what happens when public assets begin to be distributed based on proximity to Andrej Babiš. Does this government still work for the Czech Republic? Did it ever truly serve its citizens? Andrej Babiš is turning the Czech Republic into his own Babišistan. The greatest danger, however, lies in becoming accustomed to Babišistan—to lying as a mode of governance, conflicts of interest as standard practice, and self-will as an ordinary part of politics. We must not get used to that.
We already know this government has two faces but no backbone; it is turning the Czech Republic into Klondike for Agrofert. However, even this administration will not rule forever. At the latest by autumn 2029, there will be elections. If we regain citizens' trust, laws tailored to Agrofert’s interests can be changed or abolished. Viktor Orbán also believed his authoritarian system would last eternally; after sixteen years, it ended. It proved that even such a system could be defeated in an election and its damages repaired. We will proceed with equal determination as well. Responsibility lies with those who organized the bending of laws and misappropriation of public funds, including those who knowingly assisted them at ministries. And we will demand every crown unlawfully paid out by the state to Agrofert’s benefit, ensuring it is repaid by Czech taxpayers.
Martin Kupka - Chairman of ODS
