Czech presidential vote sets up Zeman-Drahos second round clash

PRAGUE - 13 January 2018: Incumbent east-looking Milos Zeman won the first round of the Czech Republic's presidential election on Saturday but runner up Jiri Drahos may pose a strong challenge in the second round in two weeks, nearly complete results showed.

Zeman's inclination towards far-right groups and his warm relations with Russia and China have split public opinion, with a sizeable chunk of the electorate favouring pro-western candidates, including 68-year-old academic Drahos.

Czech presidents have limited executive powers but Zeman and his predecessors have had a strong influence on public debate. They are also pivotal in forming governments -- which the European Union and NATO member country is now trying to do.

With votes from 97.6 percent of districts counted, Zeman led the race with 39.0 percent of votes, while Drahos had won 26.4 percent.

That means a run-off needs to be held. Several candidates running on platforms similar to Drahos scored high single-digit results and some of their voters may throw their support behind Drahos rather than Zeman in the Jan. 26-27 run-off.

"This looks hopeful," Drahos told supporters and reporters at a Prague theatre after most results had come in. "By far the toughest game now awaits against Milos Zeman and his advisers...Come to vote, come to vote, come to vote."

The vote is seen as a referendum on the 73-year-old Zeman, in office since 2013, who has criticised migration from Muslim countries and Germany's decision to accept many migrants.

A win by the soft-spoken, grey-haired chemical engineer Drahos could mean voices from the Czech leadership may shift closer to the EU mainstream.

"I voted for professor Drahos because I want that someone who will not push us to the East and who will not be a disgrace," said lawyer Matej Gredl, 30, after he voted in Prague.

The outcome may also influence Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis's chances of forming a cabinet. His first attempt to rule in a minority administration is likely to be rejected by parliament next week.

Zeman has backed Babis and said he would give him another chance even though the billionaire businessman has struggled to get support from other parties while he battles police allegations that he illegally obtained EU subsidies a decade ago. Babis denies wrongdoing.

POLICY SHIFT

A former centre-left prime minister and backer of a federal Europe, Zeman has gradually shifted to positions criticising the EU, echoing and reinforcing public sentiment.

He has won endorsements from some mainstream groups as well as the Communist Party and the main far-right anti-EU and anti-NATO SPD party.

The Czech Republic has a tiny Muslim minority and has seen few of the hundreds of thousands of people coming to Europe in the past years to seek safety from war or better life. Like Slovakia and Hungary, the Czechs have clashed with the European Commission over their refusal to accept migrants under quotas set by a vote by EU leaders.

Zeman has sought more trade and closer ties with China and has warm relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling for the removal of EU sanctions on Russia over its annexation of Ukraine's Crimea to boost business.

"If Zeman stays, it will bode well for the companies that he promotes, which have business interests in China and Russia," said Pavel Saradin, a political scientist at Palacky University.

He has strong support mainly in the countryside of the nation of 10.6 million people, and often snipes at Prague elites and the media.

"The polarisation of society has deepened in the past months," Saradin said. "Data also show a deepening rift between cities and the countryside."