Zeman to face re-election challenge in Czech runoff

Bloomberg

Czech President Milos Zeman is heading into a runoff against a pro-European challenger in a ballot that’s become a public reckoning of a veteran politician who’s thrown his support behind Russian lea-der Vladimir Putin and mobilised voters with anti-migrant rhetoric.
Zeman, 73, had 39 percent with nearly all districts counted after the first round of voting. The former prime minister and parliamentary speaker will face Jiri Drahos, a 68-year-old chemistry professor and past head of the Czech Academy of Sciences in a head-to-head contest on Jan 26-27. Drahos won 27 percent, far ahead of the next challenger, according to results published by the statistics office.
During his first five-year term, Zeman drew criticism for carving out a stronger position for the largely ceremonial post through what he calls a “creative interpretation” of the constitution. Reviled by many Czechs for his support for Russia, verbal attacks against migrants and journalists and what his critics say are offensive remarks about topics ranging from feminism to the dangers of smoking, Zeman has said his re-election will become complicated if his opponents mobilise their supporters against him.
“There has hardly been any campaign until now — the real campaign starts today,” said Stanislav Balik, a political scientist at Masaryk University in Brno, the nation’s second-largest city. “Drahos will have to show the voters that he is more than just a nice guy. He will have to be more than just an anti-Zeman. He will have to become a much more distinct candidate and show where he stands on issues.”
With rivals saying Zeman has polarized the country by calling for an end to EU sanctions against Russia and supporting a party that advocates leaving the bloc, four failed candidates who won a combined 31 percent in the first round rallied behind Drahos with endorsements.
For his part, Zeman has won backing from poorer and rural voters in the country of 10.6 million by opposing what he calls urban elites detached from the lives of ordinary people. He raised eyebrows just weeks after the UK’s decision to leave the EU by calling for a similar Czech referendum. The president said he’d vote for staying, but the proposal rang alarm bells in one of the most euroskeptic members of the world’s largest trading bloc.
Drahos has pledged to improve ties with the EU and return “dignity” to the presidential post — a jab against Zeman, a chain smoker who has made headlines by swearing in public and once said drinking six glasses of wine and three shots of liquor a day isn’t a problem.
At least one opinion poll taken before the first round showed that Zeman may lose the runoff. While he refused to take part in debates with his challengers before the first round, the president promised to meet Drahos in a TV face-off before the second ballot.