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(ANSA-AFP) - PRAGUE, JAN 13 - The Czech presidential election
is to kick off on Friday with a billionaire, a general and an
academic leading a likely two-round vote seen as too close to
call. The winner will replace Milos Zeman, an outspoken
political veteran, following a period marked by the country's
2022 EU presidency as the war in Ukraine raged. The victor will
face record inflation in the central European country of 10.5
million people, as well as bulging public finance deficits
related to the war in Ukraine. Unless a candidate wins more than
50 percent outright, which is considered unlikely, the two top
contenders will go head-to-head in a second round on January
27-28. "If you asked me to place a bet (on the result), I
wouldn't," Metropolitan University Prague political scientist
Petr Just told AFP. Populist ex-prime minister Andrej Babis,
retired general Petr Pavel and university professor Danuse
Nerudova are vying to become only the fourth president since the
Czech Republic was founded in 1993 following the collapse of the
Soviet Union. Business tycoon and former prime minister Babis,
68, is the fifth wealthiest person in the Czech Republic,
according to Forbes magazine. Pavel, 61, is a former paratrooper
who was decorated as a hero of the Serbo-Croatian war during
which he helped to free French troops from a war zone. He went
on to be the chief of the Czech general staff and chair of
NATO's military committee. Nerudova, the youngest frontrunner at
44, has a strong focus on social issues and is counting largely
on the backing of younger voters. (ANSA-AFP).
