Pro-Russian Zeman wins second term
Czech incumbent claims narrow win
PRAGUE: Pro-Russian incumbent Milos Zeman has been re-elected Czech president, narrowly outpacing his pro-European liberal rival Jiri Drahos in a knife-edge runoff that underscored deep divisions in the EU and Nato state.
The Kremlin was quick to offer its congratulations in a statement, saying that “Vladimir Putin emphasised Russia’s appreciation for Mr Zeman’s stance favouring friendly Russian-Czech relations.”
The populist ex-communist Mr Zeman took 51.36% of the vote against 48.63% for Mr Drahos, Czech Television reported quoting full official results.
Czech TV pegged turnout for round two at 66.6%, the highest figure since parliamentary elections in 1998.
Political analyst Jiri Pehe said the outcome reflected the “very deep polarisation” of Czech society which is “split down the middle” along rural-urban and populist-liberal lines, echoing divisions elsewhere in Europe and in the US.
A former leftist prime minister, the 73-year-old Mr Zeman represents poorer and rural voters with a lower level of education, while academic and political novice Mr Drahos, 68, appeals to wealthier, welleducated urbanites.
Mr Zeman’s victory comes amid a political crisis as billionaire populist Prime Minister Andrej Babis — dubbed the “Czech Trump” — is fighting police charges of EU subsidy fraud that are hampering his ability to form a government.
Speaking to a jubilant crowd at his Prague campaign headquarters, a jovial Mr Zeman vowed to give political ally Babis plenty of time to cobble together a government.
He also struck an overtly populist tone by insisting that the “intelligence of journalists... [and] some politicians is significantly lower than that of normal citizens”.
Congratulating Mr Zeman on his narrow win, Mr Drahos told backers in Prague that “we haven’t won, but we haven’t lost either”, pledging he would not retreat from public life.
In the wake of the 2015 migrant crisis in Europe, the anti-Muslim Mr Zeman staunchly opposed EU quotas designed to distribute asylum seekers across the bloc.
Even though the country of 10.6 million people has only received 12 migrants under the EU quota system, migration was a key campaign issue.
Mr Zeman’s stance on the EU echoes other populist politicians in Poland and Hungary who are at odds with Brussels over the refugee quotas and various
rules which they see as attempts to limit national sovereignty.
He once called the 2015 migrant crisis “an organised invasion” of Europe, claiming Muslims were “impossible to integrate”.
Billboards across the Czech Republic sought to appeal to voters with antimigrant messages: “Stop immigrants and Drahos. This is our country. Vote Zeman!”
According to Mr Pehe, his position cast Zeman as “the defender of Czech national interests in the eyes of his supporters”.
The pro-European Mr Drahos had also opposed the EU quota system but had insisted the Czech Republic was strong enough to accept its allotted 2,600 refugees.
Drahos underscored his concerns about possible Russian meddling in the campaign, saying that “for [Russian President] Vladimir Putin’s regime, Nato is the biggest enemy and we are part of Nato.”
Petr Vasicek, a Prague artist, said he chose the “educated and intelligent” Mr Drahos over Mr Zeman, who is “pro-Russian and pro-Chinese, which I don’t like at all”.
Mr Zeman has repeatedly called on the EU to lift its sanctions on Russia over its 2014 takeover of Crimea from Ukraine.
Voter Daniel Hajek said he had chosen Mr Zeman “because he’s opening the door to economic cooperation with countries like Russia and China.
“It’s important for us, for jobs; our country is at the heart of Europe but we can’t go in just one direction,” he said in Prague.
Europe’s fifth biggest carmaker is dependent on auto exports, mainly to the eurozone, and its economy is expected to expand by 3.4% this year.
Running under the slogan “Decency is a strength” Mr Drahos, a mild-mannered 68-year-old professor of chemical engineering who cuts a trim figure, could not have been more different from Mr Zeman who is diabetic, walks with a cane and has become known as a heavy drinker and smoker.
Mr Drahos fought off allegations of paedophilia and having been a communist police agent, suggesting the accusations were a smear campaign by Russian intelligence with links to Mr Zeman.