Babiš defended his position as ANO chief, two were against. His deputy Havlíček had more support

PRAGUE - Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš had no opponent at the ANO assembly during the election of the movement's chairman. He received 196 votes from 209 delegates, two were opposed and eleven abstained. „Hopefully our government will last until 2029, so it looks like I will still be running, just so you know,“ Babiš said. He reaffirmed this at a press conference of the ANO movement after the assembly. He intends to lead the movement into the next parliamentary elections. „The ANO movement works like a well-oiled machine,“ Babiš said.

Even ANO First Vice-Chair Karel Havlíček had no opponent in the election of his deputy. He received 207 of 209 delegates, two abstained. Havlíček thus received more votes than the chairman of the movement. „Karel always has more votes, Karel is good,“ Babiš commented. There was no change in the positions of the other vice-presidents either. The existing ones - Minister Alena Schillerová, Ústí nad Labem Governor Richard Brabec, the Commissioner for Digitalisation and Strategic Security and MP Robert Králíček, and the chair of the parliamentary foreign affairs committee Radek Vondráček - ran. Josef Bělica, the Governor of the Moravian-Silesian Region, has withdrawn his candidacy for the Assembly. Eight other members of the Bureau were elected, and nine candidates took part in the election itself - only MEP Jaroslava Pokorná Jermanová was unsuccessful.

„We are a movement for all, not just for the old, as our critics claim,“ Babiš said at the end of the electoral assembly. He identified the adoption of the civil service law as a priority. The movement's deputy chairwoman Schiillerová said other priorities were the adoption of the construction law, the capping of social levies for self-employed workers and an improved form of the Electronic Tax System. During the morning session of his movement's assembly, he had already identified the failure to change the electoral system for the lower house to a majority system as a mistake. Babiš said the ruling coalition of ANO, SPD and Motorists for Ourselves should offer a joint presidential candidate. „A candidate who will not be a representative of one part of society, but an authority who can unite,“ Babiš said. In his view, a serious debate must begin at the beginning of the year. „It will be a surprise for our coalition partners,“ the ANO chief said after the assembly

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