Far-Right Czech election ‘kingmaker’ calls for referendum on EU membership ‘just like Britain’

A woman walks her dog under an election campaign poster for the Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) party
An election campaign poster for the Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) party Credit: Reuters

The Czech Republic should follow Britain’s example and hold a referendum over it’s EU membership, the leader of a Czech far-right party which could become kingmaker in this weekend's general election has told The Telegraph.

Tomio Okamura, the leader of Freedom and Direct Democracy Party (SPD) made the call on the eve of the country's general election as his party experiences a  surge in popularity in the polls.

The party, now heading heading for around 10 per cent of the vote could form part of a coalition government coalition government, and try to push its hard-line anti-EU and anti-immigration policies into the political mainstream.

"We want to leave just like Britain and we want a referendum on EU membership," Mr Okamura said in an interview with The Telegraph.

Tomio Okamura's party is heading for 10 per cent of the vote 
Tomio Okamura's party is heading for 10 per cent of the vote 

“Over the last couple of years the EU has shown itself to be un-reformable.

“The elites are incapable of showing the flexibility needed to react to current and crucial problems such as terrorism and the migration of Muslim-African colonisers to Europe.”

Czechs vote Friday and Saturday in an election that is predicted to unseat the current three-party coalition government led by Bohuslav Sobotka, the prime minister from the centre-left Social Democrats.

Mr Okamura, a half-Japanese politician whose fiery rhetoric has  led to accusations of racism, has become increasingly popular amongst Czechs disaffected with globalisation and EU membership, adding to a sense of upheaval sweeping through Czech politics.

Most opinion polls point to the centre-right Ano party, led by billionaire business man Andrej Babis, as the clear favourite to emerge as the largest party, but without a governing majority.

A poster depicting the leader of ANO party Andrej Babis hangs on a bus stop near the town of Benesov.  The placard reads: "This is not Babis' land"
A poster depicting the leader of ANO party Andrej Babis hangs on a bus stop near the town of Benesov.  The placard reads: "This is not Babis' land" Credit: Reuters

Regarded as a populist, a strong euro-sceptic and, at least to some of his most fervent critics, as a dangerous cross between Donald Trump and Silvio Berlusconi, Mr Babis could move the Czech Republic away from mainstream European politics and align it with the populist right-wing governments of Hungary and Poland.

But lacking the support to win a majority Ano may well have to form a coalition with two or three parties, and if Mr Okamura’s SPD gets over 9 per cent, political analysts say, it will be impossible for Mr Babis to ignore it.

Otilia Dhand, a Central and European analyst at Teneo Intelligence, a political risk analyst firm, says the Ano leader may be loath to work with Mr Okamura but he could struggle to shed his influence.

“We have seen the fringe parties pulling the mainstream to the fringe, and we have seen that happening across Central and Eastern Europe,” she told The Telegraph. “He could be that populist voice the mainstream parties have to pay attention to.”

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