SW News: The second round of the Czech presidential election will pit billionaire and former populist prime minister Andrej Babis against military general Petr Pavel because no one received enough votes in the first round on Saturday to win an absolute majority.
According to Prague Morning, which cited data released by the Czech Statistical Office with 95% of the votes counted, Babis received 35.65% of the vote while Pavel came in second with 34.73%.
The only woman contender among the eight, economist Danuse Nerudova, ended in last place with just 13.79%. In two weeks, Babis and Pavel will square off in the second round. An absolute majority, or more than half of the votes cast, is required to win the election in the first round.
After casting his ballot in a suburb of Prague, the 68-year-old Babis declared that as president, he would concentrate on the urgent needs of the Czech Republic. In an interview with reporters, he stated that his goals were to address social concerns and, in his words, "persuade the government to finally start assisting people and sort out the price of power.”
Critics assert that he would cause policy disagreements with the country's center-right cabinet and continue to retain his cordial ties with the authoritarian Viktor Orban of Hungary.
Former paratrooper Pavel, 61, was recognized for his valor during the Serbo-Croatian War when he assisted in rescuing French troops from a hostile environment. He subsequently rose to the positions of chief of general staff and head of the military committee for the NATO alliance.
Nerudova, the 44-year-old top contender and a former scholar, focused on social concerns and primarily targeted younger people. Through social media advertisements, among other methods, she sought to become the first female president of the Czech Republic.
Regardless of who wins, Milos Zeman, a hard-drinking politician, will be replaced. The 78-year-old, who had possibly more impact than his predecessors, officially admitted to consuming six glasses of wine and three shots of liquor every day.