Babis and Pavel run for president in the Czech Republic 58,000 files found: actor Teichtmeister accused of child pornography

The Czech Republic faces an exciting second round for the presidency: populist ex-Prime Minister Andrej Babis and former NATO general Petr Pavel go to another round of voting in two weeks. Both were almost tied after the first ballot on Friday and Saturday after counting all constituencies.

Pavel, who campaigned for “Order and Peace”, achieved a slightly better result than Babis with 35.4 percent of the vote. The billionaire came in at 35 percent, according to data from the statistics agency CSU. One of the candidates would need an absolute majority to win in the first round.

The only woman of the eight applicants, economics professor Danuse Nerudova, came third with 13.9 percent. 68.2 percent of the 8.3 million eligible voters cast their vote.

Point of discussion: arms deliveries

Babis, who led the government from 2017 to the end of 2021, described his performance as “fantastic” in an initial response. At the same time, the Slovak-born opponents accused him of trying to put him in touch with the former Soviet secret service, the KGB. Pavel expects a tough election campaign for the playoffs on January 27 and 28: Babis doesn’t know how to play without fouls, the 61-year-old said in front of his campaign team.

Babis presented herself as an advocate for those suffering from high inflation and energy prices. The 68-year-old was acquitted a few days ago in a court case about EU subsidies. Pavel referred to his experience as a former chairman of NATO’s military committee – also against the background of the Russian war against Ukraine.

In the Czech Republic, the president has mostly representative duties, but is seen as an influential opinion leader. He can also refer laws back to parliament once, he appoints constitutional judges and he is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces. President Milos Zeman, who stepped down in early March, repeatedly provoked controversial statements about Muslims and migrants.

Media mogul Babis has always gotten on well with Zeman. Dr. itself has been suspected for years of being in a constant conflict of interest as an entrepreneur and politician. Babis’ populist movement ANO has become a meeting place for those dissatisfied with the liberal-conservative Prime Minister Petr Fiala. The party has requested a vote of no confidence in parliament next Tuesday.

Unlike Babis, the general a. D. Pavel clearly advocated further arms deliveries to Ukraine. “Choose a hero” was one of his campaign slogans. In January 1993, during the Yugoslav war, Pavel led a blue helmet commando that rescued more than 50 French UN soldiers from a dangerous position between enemy lines.

In 2015, the former chief of staff became the first candidate from a former Eastern Bloc country to be appointed chairman of NATO’s military committee. He has been officially out of service since 2018. On Saturday, shortly before the results were announced, Pavel flew a circle over the Elbe in the northwest of the Czech Republic in a light aircraft. He said, “You have to keep the overview.”

(dsc/sda/dpa)