The 71-year-old Babis was previously seen as liberal, but has over the years moved his party Ano (Yes in Czech) further and further to the right.
He is closely allied with Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and pushes to stop the military support to Ukraine and significantly cut down the EU's ambitions in the climate area.
This is appreciated in the industrial city of Ostrava, where the current right-center government is not popular.
This government is the worst. They support Ukraine and everyone except us, says pensioner Ludmila Laskovská to the news site Politico Europe.
Ano is expected to become the largest party in this weekend's election, but may have difficulty forming a coalition, unless they turn to the far-right party SPD.
This is led by the Czech-Japanese Tomio Okamura, who, among other things, demands a referendum on a "tjexit" - a Czech exit from the EU.
The polling stations are open between 2 pm and 10 pm on Friday and between 8 am and 2 pm on Saturday. A definitive result is expected to be clear on Saturday evening.
