ANO 2011

ANO 2011, often shortened to simply ANO ("Yes" in English), the initials meaning Action of Dissatisfied Citizens, is a populist political party in the Czech Republic. The party has been labelled as centrist on the political spectrum by some sources, while others state that it is a centre-right party. At the European level ANO is a member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party and the Renew Europe group in the European Parliament. The party is led by entrepreneur Andrej Babiš, who served as Prime Minister in 2017–2021.
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 association in November 2011, and on 11 May 2012 ANO became an official political party in the Czech Republic.
In the legislative election held on 25–26 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. ANO was also the largest party in 8 of the 10 biggest cities in the Czech Republic including its capital, Prague. It took mayoral offices in three largest cities in the Czech republic (Prague, Brno and Ostrava). Adriana Krnáčová was 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 of the 2016 regional elections, Babiš started a project, the Babiš's Cafe: a television program consisting of interviews by moderator Pavla Charvátová to the leader, who also answered questions that were sent by viewers. Also, two parties split from ANO – Change for People and PRO 2016 (FOR 2016). The latter was joined by numerous local councilors and mayors from ANO. The new parties explained the split by citing a lack of democracy and discussion in ANO. Babiš said that members of both parties left ANO because they were not in the party's slates for the regional elections but admitted that some members or organizations of ANO may have wanted to privatize their position in the party. Radka Paulová, leader of PRO 2016, defended herself that if she had really wanted a better position on the party's slate, she would have done better to have stayed in ANO. Another member of PRO 2016 admitted that conflict about Candidature for Regional Councils also played a role. She said 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 legislative 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 legislative election as a front-runner but finished second to Spolu. ANO still received highest number of seats. The party was delegated to opposition as Spolu formed coalition with Pirates and Mayors.
Ideology and platform
ANO's political position is debated among politicians and political scientists. Right-wing politicians and pundits place ANO on the left, while political scientists place it mostly in the centre. Other sources describe the party as centre-right. It has also been characterized as a syncretic and big tent or catch-all party. Babiš stated in an interview that ANO was "a right-wing party with social empathy" and, according to ALDE Party's website, the party "self-defines as a centre-right political party which aims to bring significant changes in the Czech society as well as political and economic reforms". ANO's ideology has been generally described as a form of populism. However, given its 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, and liberal-populist. Ideologically, the party has 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 criticized public health insurance companies for their enormous spending. ANO adopted Eurosceptic stances prior to the 2017 legislative election such as opposition to the Euro, deeper European integration and immigration quotas. The party took a more pro-EU stance after the campaign. 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 and "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.
Multiple candidates that were elected for the party have left ANO in the period since 2014, asserting that is not a liberal party anymore. 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. From 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". Also, ANO leadership has criticized centre-right ODS for not being right wing anymore, instead being with Czech Pirate Party in the progressive camp.
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 in 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 is a think-tank affiliated with ANO. Its task is to raise new politicians for the party. Its founders also say that activity of the Institute should lead to nationwide discussion about national interests and also create space for politicians from a new generation.
Young ANO is the youth wing of ANO. It was established in May 2015.
European representation
ANO joined the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe group in June 2014, and Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party in November 2014. 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.
Currently in the European Parliament, ANO sits in the Renew Europe group with five MEPs.
In the European Committee of the Regions, ANO sits in the Renew Europe CoR group, with three full and one alternate members for the 2020–2025 mandate. Jaroslava Pokorna is an ex officio member of the Renew Europe CoR Bureau.
Election results
Chamber of Deputies
Senate
European Parliament
Regional elections
Local elections
Prague municipal elections
Presidential elections
References
External links
Official website
Political parties in the Czech Republic
2012 establishments in the Czech Republic
Political parties established in 2012