Prague, Oct 4 (CTK) – Former Czech ambassador in France and Monaco, Pavel Fischer, will run for Czech president in the direct election to be held in January and he will officially announce his candidacy on Thursday, a member of his election team told CTK on Wednesday.
Fischer will not need to gather 50,000 signatures under a petition in support of his candidacy because his candidacy is supported by at least ten Czech senators. The third option for candidates is to win support from at least 20 lower house deputies.
Petr Silar, head of the Christian Democrat (KDU-CSL) senators’ group, told the website of the public Czech Radio (CRo) that he is one of the senators who supported Fischer’s candidacy.
Fischer, 52, is now director of the STEM polling institute.
In 1995-2003 he worked in the Presidential Office as President Vaclav Havel’s aide and head of the political section. In 2003-2010 he was Czech ambassador in France. He received high decorations in France and Monaco.
The most popular candidates seem to be incumbent President Milos Zeman, who will be defending his post, former Science Academy director Jiri Drahos and businessman Michal Horacek, who all have already gained the required support from at least 50,000 people under their petitions.
Senate deputy chairman Jaroslav Kubera (Civic Democrats, ODS) is considering running for president, too. His presidential bid would be backed by at least ten senators. In total, about a dozen personalities want to run for president, but some of them may fail to meet the requirements.
