Czechs Vote on Whether Polarizing President Gets Second Term
Czechs Vote for President With Zeman Favored in First Round
(Bloomberg) -- Czechs are voting in a presidential election to decide whether to give a second mandate to incumbent Milos Zeman, a frequent critic of European Union policies and a supporter of Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
Opinion polls show Zeman winning the most votes in the first round of voting but too few to avoid a Jan. 26-27 runoff with one of his eight challengers. Among them, Jiri Drahos is the most likely candidate to advance. A 68-year-old chemistry professor and former chief of the academy of science, Drahos is pledging to improve ties with the EU and return "dignity" to the presidential post -- a campaign jab against Zeman who has polarized the political landscape. Polling stations opened at 2 p.m. and will close at 10 p.m. Friday. Voting will last from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. Saturday.
Zeman used his first five-year term to carve out a stronger mandate for the largely ceremonial post through what he calls a “creative interpretation” of the constitution. Critics say his pro-Russian and anti-migrant rhetoric, scorn for media and support of anti-establishment forces including a far-right party that advocates leaving the EU, have eroded the authority of a job that has traditionally been one of a non-partisan voice of the nation. While he has won support among many Czechs by criticizing intellectual elites, opponents say he’s sown doubt over whether the country of 10.6 million people should remain in the world’s largest trading bloc.
"Zeman’s camp is very mobilized, but so are his opponents, because he’s divided society so much," said Pavel Saradin, a political scientist at Palacky University in Olomouc. "Czech society is doing extremely well economically at the moment. But, like elsewhere in Europe, people are dissatisfied, and Zeman is feeding the fire by creating an imaginary enemy; he’s attacking educated people, NGOs and immigrants."
As Zeman was casting his ballot on Friday, a woman accosted him, taking off her shirt to reveal a profane slogan on her bare chest that referred to Zeman’s support of Putin. The president’s bodyguards wrestled her to the ground and handcuffed her before she could reach him.
While the Czech Republic is the EU’s richest post-communist member by economic output per capita -- it also has the bloc’s lowest unemployment and one of its fastest growth rates -- Zeman has tapped into anti-migrant rhetoric resembling that of anti-establishment forces that scored gains in European elections last year. He has appointed billionaire Andrej Babis, with whom he shares dislike for the EU’s refugee policies, as prime minister, even though the tycoon’s single-party government doesn’t have a majority in parliament.
The president has pledged to grant Babis a second chance to form a cabinet if he fails to win parliamentary approval on the first try. Babis said Thursday he’d vote for Zeman.
While opposition parties have decried the allegiance, opinion polls show Zeman’s office to be the most trusted constitutional institution, ahead of the government and parliament, whose popularity has suffered amid bickering among coalition parties and several cabinet collapses. Among other powers, the president has the right to name central bank board members and is the commander-in-chief of the NATO member’s military.
While the president may influence efforts to break a government stalemate as the cabinet is likely to lose the first confidence vote next week, Czech financial assets have been largely immune. The koruna, which was the best performer among the world’s major currencies in 2017, has gained 0.1 percent against the euro this year.
Zeman has been one of most prominent voices in Europe to call for abolition of sanctions against Russia over the annexation of Crimea from Ukraine. He has also lashed out against the EU’s efforts to integrate refugees from the Middle East and Africa, once saying that Muslim migrants will impose Sharia Law, chop off thieves’ hands and stone adulterous women in Europe.
To contact the reporters on this story: Peter Laca in Prague at placa@bloomberg.net, Ladka Bauerova in Prague at lbauerova@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Balazs Penz at bpenz@bloomberg.net, Michael Winfrey, Paul Abelsky
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