Communists reveal presidential candidates

The communists have revealed their own candidates for the second presidential ballot. The proposed presidential hopefuls include ombudsman Otakar Motejl, former dissident and foreign minister Jiří Dienstbier, the chairman of the Constitutional Court Pavel Rychteský, MEP Jana Bobošíková and the head of the Czech Academy of Sciences Václav Pačes. The head of the Communist Party Vojtěch Filip said on Sunday that these public figures have sufficient public support and stand a good chance of being elected. The nomination comes as a setback for the Greens and the opposition Social Democrats who were hoping to win the support of the communist lawmakers for their own presidential candidate, Jan Švejnar.