Miloš Zeman to face Jiří Drahoš in presidential run-off

Miloš Zeman and Jiří Drahoš have emerged as the strongest candidates from the first round of the Czech presidential election and are heading to a run-off for the top post in two weeks’ time.

The incumbent Czech president Miloš Zeman headed the polls going into the first round and confirmed the estimates by coming first with 38.7 percent of the vote. Jiří Drahoš, a former head of the Czech Academy of Sciences, who was regarded as Mr. Zeman’s most serious challenger, came second with over 26.6 percent of the vote.

Pavel Fischer, a diplomat and a former Czech ambassador to France, came in third with little over ten percent of the votes, closely followed by Michal Horáček and Marek Hilšer, who finished with 9.2 and 8.8 percent respectively.

Turnout in Friday and Saturday’s vote was slightly over 60 percent, more or less the same as in the first direct presidential elections five years ago.

Author: Ruth Fraňková