The opposition led by Babiš blamed Fiala for all the troubles of recent years, from the energy crisis to soaring inflation, and pledged to revoke his pension reform and help for Ukraine.
Fiala congratulated him, saying the result was clear and “it’s necessary to accept it”.
His campaign focused on security amid the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
A group of mayors known as STAN, also a member of Fiala’s government, had 11.1 per cent of the vote, with another ally of Fiala, the Pirates party, reaching 8.7 per cent.
The major anti-migrant force, the Freedom and Direct Democracy party, got 7.9 per cent, while a right-wing group calling itself the Motorists collected 6.8 per cent.
Babiš said his aim was to form a one-party government, and he will have to seek tolerance from the two groups.
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The two-day election filled 200 seats in the lower house of the Czech parliament. Babiš won 80 seats, the Freedom Party has 15 and the Motorists 13. The Together coalition won 52.
He joined forces with his friend Orbán last year to create a new alliance in the European Parliament, the Patriots for Europe, to represent hard-right groups, a significant shift from the liberal Renew group that Babiš previously belonged to.
The Patriots are united by anti-migrant rhetoric, a critical stance toward EU policies tackling climate change, and the protection of national sovereignty.
The Motorists, who are backed by former EU-sceptic President Václav Klaus, share the views, while the Freedom party wants to lead the country out of the EU and NATO and plans to expel almost all of some 380,000 Ukrainian refugees from the country.
However, Babiš declared after the victory: “We’re clearly pro-European and pro-NATO.”
President Petr Pavel is scheduled to meet with Babiš and other party leaders on Sunday. The head of the strongest political force usually gets a chance from the president to form a new government.
If he wants to govern alone, his minority cabinet would need at least tacit support from the Freedom party and the Motorists to win a mandatory parliamentary confidence vote to rule.
The result was a fiasco for a coalition of four far-left fringe parties led by the maverick Communists who are openly pro-Russian and failed to win a seat.
