Prague, Feb 5 (CTK) – Marek Hilser, an unsuccessful candidate in the recent Czech presidential race, will run in the Senate elections this autumn, he has told CTK, adding that he will be running in one of the four wards in Prague where the senators’ seats will be contested.
Hilser, 41, said he will yet choose the ward to run in. At present, he is negotiating with parties on their support for him.
“Representatives of various political parties have addressed me,” he said.
According to daily Hospodarske noviny (HN), Hilser has already met representatives of the rightist Civic Democrats (ODS) and TOP 09. According to iDnes.cz server, he is going to meet Pirates’ head Ivan Bartos.
Before the January 12-13 first round of the presidential elections, the Pirates preferred Hilser most of all nine candidates in an internal poll, while TOP 09 tended to favour other candidates and the ODS supported none.
Incumbent President Milos Zeman and academic Jiri Drahos emerged most successful from the first round, ousting their seven rivals, and Zeman beat Drahos in the runoff vote on January 26-27.
Nevertheless, Hilser, a previously unknown physician, fared unexpectedly well in the first round, finishing fifth strongest with 8.8 percent of the vote and closely trailing the candidates in the third and fourth positions.
Hilser told CTK he does not want to waste the relatively strong support he received from voters.
He said he was deciding on whether to join local-level politics or seek a seat in the Senate as a body dealing with national issues.
“I feel closer to all-society issues,” he said to explain his choice.
In Senate elections, or one third of the upper house’s 81 seats (27) are contested once in two years. Senators are elected for six years.
