Prague, April 22 (CTK) – The Civic Democratic Party (ODS) is seeking a presidential candidate who has a realistic chance to beat incumbent President Milos Zeman and it is unlikely to support any of his rivals who have joined the presidential contest so far, ODS leader Petr Fiala told journalists Saturday.
“We are considering our strategy very responsibly. We want to offer a solution so that Milos Zeman does not keep the presidential post until 2023,” he said.
Fiala criticised other political parties for their unwillingness to field their own candidates.
Zeman, who will seek re-election in early 2018, is the favourite of the election. His two biggest rivals seem to be Czech Academy of Sciences former head Jiri Drahos and businessman Michal Horacek.
Zeman and Drahos are to launch the petition campaign for their presidential candidacy on Monday.
The presidential election is likely to be held in January 2018, while the general election is due on October 20-21.
Fiala will be ODS election leader in South Moravia, MP Jana Cernochova in Prague, former regional governor Jan Zahradnik in South Bohemia, ODS lower house group’s head Zbynek Stanjura in Moravia-Silesia, and the party’s economic expert Jan Skopecek in Central Bohemia. Popular regional and municipal politicians are among the regional leaders, too.
About 40 candidates from the small Freeholder Party will be running on the ODS lists of candidates.
Freeholders’ chairman Petr Bajer said the supporters of his party would cast their votes and help create a government that would abolish all the regulations that the current government of the Social Democrats (CSSD) and ANO introduced.
Bajer is running as number three on the ODS list in the Pardubice Region.
kva/dr
