Prague, Nov 8 (CTK) – Most Czech government members prefer U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to her contender Donald Trump, dailies Lidove noviny and Mlada fronta Dnes (MfD) write yesterday.
“Though far from being ideal, Hillary Clinton’s steps are quite foreseeable and the relationships would not much change from the current situation [if she won],” Labour and Social Affairs Minister Michaela Marksova (Social Democrats, CSSD) told LN.
Environment Minister Richard Brabec (ANO) also tends to prefer Clinton, LN writes.
“From what I know, I would rather vote for Clinton also because Donald Trump seems to me a too unknown figure,” Brabec said.
Hillary Clinton as U.S. president would probably be a higher guarantee of security than Donald Trump, Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka told Hospodarske noviny (HN) in August.
ANO leader, Finance Minister Andrej Babis said he would vote for neither, as he preferred Michael Bloomberg. However, Bloomberg withdrew from the presidential race in the spring, LN writes.
Former education minister turned lawyer Petra Buzkova (Social Democrats), State Office for Nuclear Safety (SUJB) chairwoman Dana Drabova, chairman of the Chamber of Deputies Jan Hamacek (CSSD), MEP for the Mayors and Independents (STAN) Stanislav Polcak and former Social Democrat prime minister Jiri Paroubek would also vote for Clinton, it adds.
On the other hand, the tycoon Trump is preferred by both current and former presidents, Milos Zeman and Vaclav Klaus.
“I think that it would be difficult for Klaus, but he would never cast his vote for Clinton,” Klaus’s media spokesman Petr Macinka has told the paper.
Zeman’s spokesman Jiri Ovcacek said Zeman would vote for Trump due to his views of the struggle with international terrorism and migrant crisis.
Populist politician Tomio Okamura (the Party of Direct Democracy (SPD), his former colleagues from the Dawn party and surprisingly Communists, too, tend to prefer Trump, MfD writes.
The Communists say that Trump is a lesser evil from the candidates who are so bad that the Americans are doomed, it adds.
Clinton is backed by most Social Democrats deputies and Human Rights Minister Jiri Dienstbier (CSSD), LN writes.
The ANO deputy group is split about evenly over the issue, MfD writes.
Former Czech foreign minister Karel Schwarzenberg (TOP 09) is “clearly for Clinton,” he has told LN, as is the latest presidential candidate Michal Horacek.
More than 3,000 Americans live in the Czech Republic. They are very disciplined as at least 1,200 of them have already cast their votes, LN writes.
This number had themselves registered with the Democrats Abroad, it adds.
Democrats Abroad have also organised one of the biggest group watching the U.S. elections in the Czech Republic. This evening, 100-150 people are expected to watch the outcome of the contest in the Hora Haus restaurant in Prague, it adds.
The Americans will also meet in the American Center in Prague late in the afternoon, LN writes.
