ANO 2011


ANO 2011


Action of Dissatisfied Citizens (Czech: Akce nespokojených občanů), commonly known as ANO 2011, or simply ANO (English: Yes), is a populist and conservative political party in the Czech Republic, led by businessman Andrej Babiš, who served as Prime Minister from 2017 to 2021.

History

Foundation

The idea of founding a new political party came after leader and founder Andrej Babiš started talking about systemic corruption. ANO 2011 started as an association in November 2011 and became an official political party in the Czech Republic on 11 May 2012.

In the parliamentary election held on 25 and 26 October 2013, ANO gained 18.7% of the vote and 47 seats in the Chamber of Deputies, attaining second place behind the Czech Social Democratic Party (ČSSD).

First government participation (2011–2017)

On 29 January 2014, the Cabinet of Social Democrat Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka was sworn in, with ANO and the Christian democrats of the KDU-ČSL participating as junior coalition partners to the ČSSD.

On 24–25 May 2014, ANO came first nationally in the 2014 European election gaining 16.13% of votes and 4 seats, joining the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) group in European Parliament. On 10 September 2014, ANO member Věra Jourová was designated European Commissioner of Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality in the Juncker Commission. On 21 November 2014, ANO was given full membership of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party (ALDE Party) at a congress in Lisbon.

In the 2014 senate and municipal elections held on 10–11 October 2014, ANO won 4 seats in the Senate, and was the largest party in 8 of the 10 biggest cities in the Czech Republic, including Prague. It took mayoral offices in the three largest cities (Prague, Brno and Ostrava), and Adriana Krnáčová became the first female mayor of Prague. This success was later undermined when a large number of municipal coalitions broke up because of the party's disunity.

In the run-up to the 2016 regional elections, Babiš started Babiš's Cafe, a television show consisting of interviews with Babiš by Pavla Charvátová, as well as viewers' questions. Two parties split from ANO citing a lack of democracy and discussion in the party: Change for People and PRO 2016 (FOR 2016), the latter of which was joined by numerous local councillors and mayors from ANO. Some of those leaving attributed their departure to conflicts related to candidate selection, alleging that the main criterion for candidates to regional councils was not professionalism but loyalty. ANO also lost one MP in July 2016 when Kristýna Zelienková left the party.

However, ANO won the 2016 regional elections and the first round of the 2016 senate election. The party came first in nine regions and second in the remaining four regions; its victory in South Bohemia was especially surprising. ANO ended up with 5 governors, one of whom, the Karlovy Vary Governor Jana Vildumetzová, became Chairman of Regional Association. The second round of the senate election was a disappointment to the party, as 3 candidates were elected.

On 11 October 2017, MEP Pavel Telička announced his departure from the party. Petr Ježek left ANO on 23 January 2018.

Minority government (2017–2021)

On 20–21 October 2017, the ANO party won the 2017 Czech parliamentary election with 29.6% of the vote. ANO formed the short-lived first Babiš government with independent ministers on 13 December 2017, failing a vote of confidence on 16 January 2018. On 12 July 2018 the second Babiš government was formed, with the ČSSD joining as the junior coalition partner to ANO. The cabinet received external support from Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia.

In 2018 municipal elections, the party again came first, but it lost mayorships of Prague and Brno to the ODS and the Czech Pirate Party.

In May 2019, ANO came first place in the 2019 European election, with 21.2% of the vote, returning 6 MEPs.

In 2020 regional elections, the party lost two governors' positions, but it joined various coalitions, which formed cordon sanitaire against the SPD and the KSČM.

Opposition (since 2021)

ANO participated in 2021 parliamentary election as a front-runner but finished second to Spolu. ANO still received highest number of seats.

Following the 2024 European Parliament election on 21 June 2024, the party unilaterally withdrew from both the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party and Renew Europe group. On 30 June 2024, ANO leader Babiš launched the Patriots for Europe alliance, along with Prime Minister of Hungary and Fidesz party leader Viktor Orbán and Freedom Party of Austria leader Herbert Kickl.

Ideology and platform

ANO's political position is debated among politicians and political scientists. Right-wing politicians and pundits painted ANO as being on the left, while political scientists placed it in the centre and centre-right. Bne IntelliNews referred ANO 2011 as taking a right-wing direction after it left ALDE and Renew Europe in 2024. Babiš himself stated in an interview in 2024 that ANO was "a right-wing party with social empathy". ANO's ideology has been widely described as a form of populism or right-wing populism. ANO 2011 has also been characterised as technocratic, syncretic, and a big tent or catch-all party. However, given its former membership of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party and Renew Europe, which are mostly composed of liberal parties, ANO has also been described as liberal, conservative-liberal, centre-right liberal, liberal-conservative, and liberal-populist. Ideologically, the party had similarities with the Christian and Democratic Union – Czechoslovak People's Party (KDU-ČSL) and the now-defunct Public Affairs. Additionally, ANO, or more specifically Babiš, has been compared to Silvio Berlusconi from Forza Italia or former President of the United States Donald Trump.

ANO generally opposes economic liberalism, differently from its main rival, the Civic Democratic Party (ODS). In some spheres, such as tax policy, Babiš reintroduced centre-left elements to the movement's politics, including the abolition of partial tax exemption for self-employed persons and restoration of the partial tax exemption for employed pensioners. He also introduced a proposal to increase school teacher wages by 2.5%, as opposed to his ministry's original proposal for a 1% increase. In the area of healthcare, Babiš has criticised public health insurance companies for their enormous spending.

ANO is generally described as a Eurosceptic or Soft Eurosceptic party. Daniel Kaiser of Echo24 called the party's stance towards the EU "Euro-opportunism". Babiš stated that ANO opposes the Czech Republic's adoption of the Euro, further European integration, immigration quotas, "Brussels bureaucracy". Babiš stated later that he was open to adopting the euro once the Czech Republic had a balanced budget. He also pleaded for closer ties with Germany and said the Czech Republic was already ready to sign the Fiscal Compact treaty at the time of the interview. Babiš advocated for a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine in the Russo-Ukrainian War during his 2023 Czech presidential election campaign, criticising his opponent's absolute support for Ukraine.

Multiple candidates that were elected for the party have left ANO in the period since 2014, asserting that is not a liberal party any more. After 2017 Czech parliamentary election ANO formed a minority government with support from Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSČM) ending the cordon sanitaire against them. Following the 2021 Czech parliamentary election, Euronews speculated that ANO may try to set itself up as a left-wing and populist opposition party, in order to absorb votes from the Czech Social Democratic Party, the KSČM and Přísaha, all of which remained outside of parliament for failing to cross the 5% threshold for Parliament. KSČM also endorsed Babiš in the presidential election in 2023. In other respects, the party has gradually shifted to the right. In early 2023, many from the party leadership spoke about the party's shift to conservatism, both socially and fiscally, as Babiš has been cooperating with Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán and the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). The agenda for the 2023 conference specifically stated Babiš to be a "conservative leader". The ANO leadership has also criticised the centre-right ODS, claiming that it is no longer right-wing, but is instead in the "progressive camp" with the Czech Pirate Party.

Structure

ANO has a highly centralised organisational structure. The strongest position is that of the Chairman who acts independently when representing the party. The highest body of ANO is its National Assembly that meets at least once every two years. Other national offices include membership of the Party Committee and the Bureau. The Bureau is led by the Chairman. Regional assemblies can elect their own Chairmen; however, they must be approved by the Bureau before they can take office. The Bureau also approves all candidates for elections. Because of these reasons and considering Babiš's businesses, it can be described as a business-firm party.

The Institute for Politics and Society, founded in October 2014, is a think tank affiliated with ANO. In March 2015, Journalist Jan Macháček became the chairman of the institute.

Young ANO, the party's youth wing, was established on 1 May 2015, with Kateřina Reiblová as the inaugural leader. She resigned in July 2015, with Babiš stating that she was disgusted by the media. She was replaced by Tomáš Krátký, who was elected as chair during the organisation's first convention.

European representation

ANO joined the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) group in June 2014, and Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party (ALDE party) in November 2014. ANO has been described as a headache for the liberal group. Members of these groups have criticised ANO leader Babiš and questioned his resolve towards the ethos of these organisations due to Babiš being invited to, attending, and speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Budapest, Hungary, in May 2023.

In June 2024 the ANO party unilaterally resigned from both the ALDE party and its affiliated Renew Europe group in the European Parliament. On 30 June 2024, ANO, the Freedom Party of Austria and Hungarian party Fidesz launched a new political alliance named Patriots for Europe.

Election results

Chamber of Deputies

Senate

European Parliament

Regional elections

Local elections

Prague municipal elections

Presidential elections

Notes

References

External links

Media related to ANO at Wikimedia Commons

  • Official website

Text submitted to CC-BY-SA license. Source: ANO 2011 by Wikipedia (Historical)



 

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