Presidential candidate Jan Fisher surges ahead in polls

Presidential candidate, former prime minister, Jan Fischer has forged ahead of his rivals with close to 30 percent voter support, according to the STEM polling agency. His main rival –another former prime minister- Miloš Zeman is in second place with 16.5 percent support and Senator Jiří Diensbier, the official candidate of the Social Democratic Party, is third with 13.9 percent support. The surge in support for Mr. Fisher is widely ascribed to the fact that economist Jan Švejnar recently announced his decision not to run for president resulting in a strong shift of support for the former caretaker prime minister.