(ANSA-AFP) - PRAGUE, OCT 8 - A populist billionaire at odds
with the European Union who featured in the Pandora Papers is
the narrow favourite in Czech elections starting on Friday that
promise a tight result. Prime Minister Andrej Babis will seek a
second straight victory for his populist ANO political party
despite his lukewarm handling of the Covid-19 pandemic and his
clash with the law. The 67-year-old food, chemicals and media
mogul is facing police charges over an EU subsidy fraud and the
bloc's dismay over his conflict of interest as a businessman and
a politician. Last weekend, the Pandora Papers investigation
showed he had used money from his offshore firms to finance the
purchase of property in southern France in 2009, including a
chateau. He slammed the allegations as a smear campaign, and
opinion polls still peg the former Communist Party member as the
election favourite, with support reaching up to 30 percent. "The
key question is whether the populist policy will prevail over
traditional and more responsible politicians," said Tomas
Lebeda, an analyst at Palacky University in the eastern city of
Olomouc. Polling stations open at 1200 GMT and close at 2000 GMT
before voting resumes at 0600 GMT on Saturday and ends at 1200
GMT. There will be no exit polls and the results are expected
later on Saturday. (ANSA-AFP).
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