The head of the ANO movement, Andrej Babiš, does not rule out running for the post of prime minister again. In his view, the country is now run by the worst government since the November revolution. However, his name is often mentioned in connection with the presidency. He is to announce whether he will run for the head of state next year at the end of October.
“I have moved on in that I am not currently ruling out the possibility that I will consider running for the post in the future,” the ANO chief said.
The reason, he said, is the current political situation. “It is given what is happening in our country, which the worst government leads since November 1989, headed by a weak and indecisive prime minister,” he added.
Last time…
Before the 2017 House of Commons elections, however, Babiš said that if he became prime minister, he would quit politics after four years. Similarly, before last year’s lower house elections, he said it would be the last time he would run for the Chamber of Deputies.
He repeated his position at the ANO congress in February this year, when he also said he would not run for the movement’s leadership again.
Babiš is also a hot candidate for the ANO movement for the presidency. “Babiš is today a clear candidate of the ANO movement for president. He has political experience, won several elections, foreign experience, and contacts,” Deputy Speaker of the House Karel Havlíček (ANO) told the Politalk News podcast in late August.
Never, maybe…
Babiš hasn’t made up his mind yet, either. In 2014, he said he would never run for office, but five years later, he has already said nothing can ever be ruled out. And now he says he won’t announce it until 28 October 28th.
But the movement, according to his earlier words, has other personalities who could run for the post. There is speculation, for example, about the head of the ANO parliamentary club, Alena Schillerová, or Havlíček.
The head of the ANO movement is also currently on trial over the Čapí hní nest case. Babiš is facing charges of aiding and abetting subsidy fraud. The prosecutor is seeking suspended sentences and fines for them.