Retired NATO Commander Petr Pavel has been elected president of the Czech Republic, winning over voters by pledging full commitment to NATO and vowing to “restore integrity” to the presidency.
In the second round of voting, Pavel comfortably beat former prime minister Andrej Babiš, who had the support of incumbent president Miloš Zeman.
Pavel took 57 percent of the vote compared to 43 percent for Babiš, according to preliminary results with 93 percent of votes counted after the polls closed.
Pavel described the runoff as “the collision of two worlds”. He tweeted that he stands against “what Babiš and Zeman represent with him. A world of chaos, failure to solve problems, personal gain and behind-the-scenes influence”.
Zeman has served a maximum of two terms in office, during which he shaped his foreign policy by embracing China and Russia as key partners. He was not far from Russian president Vladimir Putin until Moscow’s all-out attack on Ukraine since last February.
No candidate secured the required absolute majority in the first round of voting two weeks ago, but Pavel entered the second round as the clear favorite after another defeated candidate asked his supporters to back him in the run-off. Some warned that Babiš would continue Zeman’s presidential style and put undue pressure on Prime Minister Petr Fiala’s coalition government.
The government has executive power in the Czech Republic, not the president.
Pavel’s campaign underlined his military credentials and commitment to NATO. He was the chairman of the military committee of the defense pact between 2015 and 2018.
Babiš’s foreign policy differences raised concerns among Czech allies after he suggested that troops should not be sent to help Poland and NATO’s Baltic states if they were attacked. He went on to say that he simply did not want the Ukraine conflict to turn into a worldwide war.
Babiš may remain prominent in Czech politics as the founding leader of the opposition party ANO.
During the campaign, Babiš sought to blame the coalition government for leading the country into economic stagnation.
Luděk Niedermayer, a Czech economist and member of the European Parliament, said that Babiš relied on the rapid and clear economic situation caused by the war and the energy crisis to attack the government.
“But it doesn’t look too bad right now, we still have strong labor force data and it’s hard to imagine a deep recession,” he said.