Babiš reveals political ambitions

Business magnate Andrej Babiš – chairman and majority owner of Agrofert – is aiming to make inroads into Czech politics reports the daily Mladá fronta Dnes. Several weeks ago Mr Babiš founded an initiative known as Akci nespokojených občanů (ANO 2011) in the aim of drawing attention to corruption and other problems faced by the government. The businessman told the Czech newspaper that he had ambitions to succeed in parliamentary elections in 2014, suggesting that politicians currently in power were not doing a good job. His initiative’s aims are to push for greater transparency, better legislation and a better justice system, Mr Babiš said.

Several parties in the past have also run on anti-corruption platforms: Public Affairs, an upstart party prior to the last elections gained seats in the lower house and consequently a spot in the current centre-right government on the basis of its anti-corruption message.

Author: Jan Velinger