Czech president asks populist leader Andrej Babiš to form a new government

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PRAGUE (AP) — The Czech Republic’s president on Monday asked former Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, a populist billionaire, to form a new government after his party's victory in parliamentary elections.

President Petr Pavel made the announcement after meeting Babiš, whose ANO (YES) staged a comeback in the Oct 3-4 ballot. Babiš has been negotiating a possible majority coalition with the Freedom and Direct Democracy anti-migrant party and the right-wing Motorists for Themselves.

All the three parties are critical of the European Union and reject its environmental, migrant and other policies and their rule is expected to steer the country away from supporting Ukraine in its three-year war against Russia's invasion.

Babiš promised to present the coalition agreement and its priorities later this week, Pavel said in a statement.

The parties have agreed to create a 16-member Cabinet with ANO holding eight posts and the prime minister. The Motorists would have four and the Freedom party three.

Babis and ANO won 34.51% of the vote, soundly beating the pro-Western conservative coalition led by outgoing Prime Minister Petr Fiala. The new three-party partnership would hold 108 seats in the the 200-seat lower house of Parliament, relegating Fiala to the opposition.