Incumbent Milos Zeman held a strong lead over pro-EU academic Jiri Drahos in the Czech presidential election on Saturday in which voters were judging Zeman’s tough stance against immigration and courtship of closer ties with Russia and China.
PRAGUE (Reuters) – Incumbent Milos Zeman held a strong lead over pro-EU academic Jiri Drahos in the Czech presidential election on Saturday in which voters were judging Zeman’s tough stance against immigration and courtship of closer ties with Russia and China.
With 82.94 percent of voting districts reporting, Zeman led with 53.33 percent, to 46.66 percent for Drahos.
Although larger cities and districts were still to report, Drahos faced a quickly diminishing chance to close the gap.
Zeman, 73, is the last prominent figure among active politicians from the country’s post-communist transitional period in the 1990s. He has pleased some but alienated others by publicly belittling opponents ranging from the last prime minister to intellectual elites and the press.
The vote reflects the divisions between liberals and conservatives seen elsewhere in Europe and the United States. Zeman has taken a tough stance on immigration and backed Donald Trump in the 2016 U. S. presidential election.
The Czech constitution gives presidents limited executive powers, but Zeman has not hesitated to test the boundaries. In 2013, for example, he appointed a caretaker government of his allies for five months against the will of parliament.
