Czech Leader Defies Scandal, Bolsters His Support
Czech Leader Defies Fraud-Probe Scandal to Bolster His Support
(Bloomberg) -- The Czech Republic’s billionaire prime minister fortified his support among potential voters, defying escalating tensions over a police investigation into whether he committed fraud.
The ANO party led by Andrej Babis widened its lead in a survey conducted by pollster STEM last month when new allegations related to the fraud probe led to a failed no-confidence motion in parliament. ANO’s backing rose to 36 percent in November, from 33 percent in the previous month. That’s well ahead of the Pirates in second place with 13 percent, Stem said Wednesday.
The opposition launched the no-confidence motion after Babis’s son said he’d been lured to Crimea and held there against his will as his father tried to hide him from the investigation. Babis Sr. has rejected the allegations and said his son, who’s also been accused in the fraud case, is mentally ill. Babis’s coalition, which lacks an outright majority, survived the parliamentary challenge to its rule with the help of Communist lawmakers.
To contact the reporter on this story: Peter Laca in Prague at placa@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Balazs Penz at bpenz@bloomberg.net, Michael Winfrey, Andrew Langley
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