Twenty-one people, including former prime minister Andrej Babiš, and a general and a trade union boss, will have a shot at replacing Miloš Zeman as the next president in the January elections.
Tuesday was the last day for would-be candidates to register for the elections. Presidential hopefuls either had to get backing from lawmakers (MPs or Senators) or gather 50,000 signatures from citizens.
In the end, 21 people succeeded in registering. Current polls point to only three candidates having the best chance of advancing to the second round.
Though the names of all candidates will not be made public until 25 November, some are already known.
This includes Babiš, who delayed confirming his candidacy for a while – likely due to the polls not giving him the edge he had probably hoped for. Polls point to him losing to several candidates in the second round of the two-round election.
Leading the polls, however, General and former NATO military committee chairman Petr Pavel.
Pavel is followed by economist and former university rector Danuše Nerudová, who would become the first woman to lead the Czech Republic as president.
Chances of success are lower for Senators Pavel Fischer and Marek Hilšer, who ran five years ago.
The same applies to the head of the trade union federation, Josef Středula, whose supporters, like Babiš’, are mainly pensioners and those with a lower level of education.
Karel Janeček is probably the most interesting candidate. The mathematician, billionaire, philanthropist and co-founder of a financial group collected 73,000 signatures, though his chances of winning are slim.
With elections set for 13 and 14 January, support for candidates could still change significantly according to political analysts.
(Ondřej Plevák | EURACTIV.cz)
Source: euractiv.com
