ANO (political party)
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ANO (lit. 'Yes'), registered as ANO 2011, is a right-wing populist political party in the Czech Republic, led by businessman Andrej Babiš, who served as Prime Minister of the Czech Republic from 2017 to 2021. Formed in 2011, the party finished second in the first elections it contested in 2013, entering government as a junior partner to the Czech Social Democratic Party (ČSSD) led by Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka. After large gains in the 2017 election, these two parties switched places, with Babiš becoming prime minister in an ANO-led government with the Social Democrats as the junior partner, plus external support from the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia, a post-revolution first for the country. ANO was narrowly defeated in the 2021 election by the Spolu coalition and went into opposition for the first time. The party has performed consistently strongly in Czech elections since 2013, winning every European Parliament election it has entered, and participating in regional and municipal administrations around the country. The party's ideological character is contested by political scientists, though it is widely considered to be populist in nature. After being formed predominantly as an anti-corruption vehicle, the party has at different times been considered centrist, liberal, conservative, right-wing, social democratic or centre-left by different commentators, leading to a further characterisation as a syncretic or catch-all party. Since the 2024 European Parliament election, the party has positioned itself to the right, co-founding Patriots for Europe, a group in the European Parliament that is made up of Eurosceptic parties that primarily adhere to national conservatism and right-wing populism.