Andrej Babis faces stiff competition in Czech Republic presidential election

Czechs have started voting for a new president, with populist billionaire Andrej Babis leading a field of eight candidates in a two-day election to succeed Milos Zeman in the largely ceremonial post.

Babis, a former prime minister, was acquitted this week in a fraud trial, which boosts his chances of winning in the first round of the presidential election which will run Friday and Saturday.

If no candidate achieves a majority, as polls have indicated, the top two finishers will face each other in a runoff in two weeks’ time.

Retired army General Petr Pavel, a former chairman of NATO’s military committee and former university rector and economist Danuse Nerudova, are Babis’ main challengers.

The two political newcomers fully endorsed the country’s military and humanitarian support for Ukraine in its fight against Russia and see the Czech Republic’s future linked to its membership in the EU and NATO.

• Former PM Andrej Babis cleared of fraud by Czech court

• Czechs start voting in the first round of presidential elections

• Czech voters head to the polls to choose their next president

Polls indicate that none of the remaining candidates are likely to make the runoff.

They include Pavel Fischer, a former diplomat and adviser to former president Vaclav Havel, and Jaroslav Basta, a lawmaker for the country’s major anti-migrant force, the Freedom and Direct Democracy party.

The current five-party ruling coalition endorsed Pavel, Nerudova and Fischer, who ran as independent candidates.

Babis, whose centrist ANO (YES) movement ended up in opposition after losing the 2021 general election, is supported by his Zeman, with whom he shares euroskeptic views and is partial to using anti-migrant rhetoric.

“We think that a different candidate than anyone supported by the government should be elected," Babis said.