Czech govt parties win Senate elections

Prague, Oct 2 The leading government coalition party, the Civic Democratic Party (ODS), won the most seats in this year's Senate elections, according to official results published by the Czech Statistical Office.

The ODS, headed by Prime Minister Petr Fiala, won eight out of 27 seats, followed by Christian Democrats (KDU-CSL), another government coalition party, with seven, and the opposition party Action of Dissatisfied Citizens (ANO) with three.

ANO will have a total of five senators in the country's Upper House of Parliament, allowing the party to create its own parliamentary group in the Senate, Xinhua news agency reported.

The opposition party of former Prime Minister Andrej Babis saw strong gains in last weekend's local elections. ANO came ahead in 17 of 27 major Czech cities including eight of the 13 regional capitals.

One-third of the Czech Senate's 81 seats are filled every two years and its members are elected for a six-year term.