PRAGUE (AP) — A retired army general who supports military aid to Ukraine and a euroskeptic billionaire who has questioned NATO’s collective defense clause will vote in a ceremonial run-off vote starting Friday. But he is vying for the post of honored Czech president.
None of the first eight candidates won an absolute majority in the first round two weeks ago, so former generals Petr Pavel and Andrei Babis advanced to the second round.
Polls favor Pavel, the independent candidate who came in first in the first round by a narrow margin of 35.40%. Babis followed him with 34.99%. Three of his other candidates have voiced their support for Pavel ahead of his two-day voting that begins Friday.
The winner will replace controversial Milos Zeman, whose second and final term expires in March. Zeman divided the country with his pro-Russian stance and support for closer ties with China until his February 24 invasion of Ukraine.
He was the first president elected by popular vote. MPs elected his two previous presidents, Vaclav Havel and Vaclav Klaus.
Here are the voting results for the European Union and NATO member states:
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what is at stake
According to the Czech Constitution, the president elects the prime minister after general elections.
The president also, with the approval of the Senate of Congress, appoints members of the central bank’s board of directors and elects judges of the Constitutional Court.
Otherwise, the president has little executive power, as the country is run by a government elected and led by a prime minister.
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Millionaire in distress
Babis, the 68-year-old former prime minister and one of the richest people in the country, was a divisive figure.
With his political ally Zeman, he owes his close business ties to the West and the powerful anti-immigrant rhetoric that links him with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, an anti-immigrant advocate. Nonetheless, they share a euroskeptic view.
Babis, among other issues, has been critical of the 27-member EU’s plan to tackle climate change, which he said would hurt the Czech economy.
Numerous scandals did not undermine his general support, especially among his base, the older voters.
Nevertheless, twice in 2019, 250,000 people took to the streets to demand Mr Birvis step down as prime minister over scandals involving conflicts of interest over EU subsidies. rice field. his former business empire.
Babis’ ANO (YES) movement lost the October 2021 parliamentary elections after a turbulent term that included a chaotic response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Five political parties formed a coalition to form a new government.
Prior to that election, Babis was hit by yet another scandal, with findings by an international consortium of investigative journalists called the “Pandora Documents” linking him and hundreds of other wealthy people to offshore accounts. he denied wrongdoing.
A Prague court in January acquitted him of fraud charges in a $2 million case involving EU subsidies. Prosecutors can still appeal. Babis said the charges against him were politically motivated.
Born in Slovakia, Babis was a member of the Communist Party before the 1989 Velvet Revolution that brought democracy. In Slovakia, the Czechs’ former partner in former Czechoslovakia, he faces allegations of cooperation with the communist-era secret police, which he denies.
political rookie general
Pavel, 61, introduced himself as the right person for the post at a difficult time amid Russia’s war in Ukraine.
From 2015 to 2018, he chaired the Military Commission of NATO, the alliance’s top military organ. Previously, he served as Chief of the General Staff of the Czech Armed Forces.
Pavel fully supports Ukraine’s military and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine in its fight against Russia, and believes that his country’s future is closely linked to its accession to the EU and NATO.
After Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea in 2014, Pavel said in a 2015 interview with the AP that NATO members spent more on defense, conducted more joint military exercises, and responded to Russia’s move. “We must face it and stand firm,” he said.
As a member of the UN peacekeeping mission during the war in the former Yugoslavia, he helped evacuate 53 French peacekeepers in 1993 and received the French War Cross.
Pavel says he was a member of the Communist Party before 1989 and regrets it.
Pavel’s campaign garnered unexpectedly high support in the city believed to be Babis’ home, with four recent polls predicting his victory.
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messy campaign
The campaign was marred by false accusations and controversy.
Babis accused his opponent of being a KGB-trained communist spy, but offered no proof, comparing him to Russian President Vladimir Putin. He was also trying to introduce Pavel as a candidate for the current coalition government, which he blames for high inflation and high energy prices. Pavel works independently.
The Ukraine war was at the heart of the election campaign.
Babis presented himself as a peacemaker and viewed Pavel as a warmonger because of his military past. “I’m a diplomat, not a soldier,” Bavis said on big billboards across the country, adding that he had no intention of leading the country to war.
In his most controversial statement, Babis said he would not send troops to Poland or the Baltic states if his NATO allies were attacked.
“Certainly not,” Bavis said. “I want peace, I don’t want war.”
He later recanted, saying he supported NATO’s principles of collective defense. had to explain.
