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Czechs vote in presidential election run-off, tight race expected

January 27, 2018 16:15·
Simon Panek executive director of People in Need at its headquarters in Prague. He founded the NGO after being a student leader during the 1989 anti-communist Velvet Revolution

Simon Panek executive director of People in Need at its headquarters in Prague. He founded the NGO after being a student leader during the 1989 anti-communist Velvet Revolution

But Drahos can gain later as he did in a first round of voting two weeks ago when Zeman's initial 20 percentage point lead over Drahos narrowed to 12 percentage points.

Zeman, 73, is favored to win another five-year term but polls suggest a tight race in the ballot, which ends later Saturday.

After casting his vote, Zeman attacked Drahos for lacking the experience needed for the top job.

A mild-mannered centrist whom critics have branded "wishy-washy", Drahos wants Prague to "play a more active role in the EU" and backs joining the eurozone.

Drahos, a 68-year-old chemistry professor, is seen as more Western-oriented, and has clearly linked his country's future to its European Union and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation memberships.

Running under the slogan "Decency is a strength", Drahos, a 68-year-old professor of chemical engineering who is a newcomer to politics, could not be more different.

Zeman has the backing of Prime Minister Andrej Babis, a billionaire businessman trying to form a new government after his minority cabinet lost a parliamentary confidence vote last week. He can name the prime minister and government, central bank board members, judges and university professors, and sign bills passed by parliament into laws. He called Russia's annexation of the Crimean Peninsula irreversible.

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A group of Zeman's supporters commissioned billboards and newspaper ads that call on citizens to "Stop Migrants and Drahos", adding "This is our land!"

"It is clear that Jiri Drahos is unequivocally pro-EU and an euro-Atlantic candidate".

The migrant issue remains dominant even though the country has rarely been used by refugees on their way to Germany and other rich western countries.

The Czech constitution gives presidents limited executive powers, but Zeman has not hesitated to test the boundaries.

Known for his pro-Chinese and anti-Muslim stance, the populist Zeman, who is also a fan of US President Donald Trump, took pole position in a field of nine candidates in the January 12-13 first round vote, garnering 38.56 percent of the vote.

Voting has ended and counting begun on the final day of Czech presidential elections pitting current head of state, Miloš Zeman, against his challenger, the former head of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Jiří Drahoš.

Czech Republic's President Milos Zeman casts his vote during second round of Presidential elections in Prague, Czech Republic, Friday, Jan. 26, 2018.

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