Billionaire businessman Andrej Babis becomes kingmaker in Czech politics

Slovak-born billionaire and political novice Andrej Babis has become the kingmaker of Czech politics, after voters angry at graft among the country's political establishment made his new party the second biggest in parliament.

The mercurial 59-year-old overcame being a non-native Czech speaker and a hazy political programme to win 18.7 per cent of the vote in the election, just behind the Social Democrats, who garnered a disappointing 20.5 per cent.

Given rivalries and ill will among some of the other parties, it seemed the formation of any new government could require the involvement of a candidate whose campaign consisted of a simple message - that he was not a politician.

Babis first built a career in a socialist-era chemicals trading firm during the 1980s, which he parlayed into a multi-billion- dollar diversified business after the velvet revolution of 1989 swept the communists from power.

Critics, however, point out that he prospered in the same post-communist environment that he now criticises. Babis said he would keep ownership of his firms even if he entered government.

An executive familiar with his empire says Babis, a demanding boss who only sleeps a few hours daily, keeps tight control of all his businesses.