Pec pod Snezkou, East Bohemia, Aug 10 (CTK) – Someone from the political system who knows what politics is should become a new Czech president, former president Vaclav Klaus told reporters during the St Lawrence pilgrimage to Snezka (1603 m), the highest mountain in the country, today.
Klaus, 75, Czech president in 2003-2013 and PM in 1993-97, refused to comment on pre-election polls and the campaigns of presidential candidates.
The next direct presidential election will be held in January 2018.
“I think that a Martian, in relation to the political system, should not become a president. If we see what happened in Slovakia where (Andrej) Kiska was elected president, this should serve as a serious warning for us all… Simply, a president must be someone from the political system with certain experience who anticipates what politics is about,” Klaus said.
He added that looking at (presidential candidates) “Mr Kulhanek and Horacek” made his flesh creep.
Klaus also said today he considered a parliamentary election crucial.
“A presidential election is secondary in this respect. I do not think it is not interesting as candidates whom I consider crazy and amusing are mushrooming there,” Klaus added.
A parliamentary election has a potential to change something in the country, however, “the deal of cards” among particular political entities does not give much hope of changing something for the better after the election, Klaus said, commenting on the upcoming October general election.
Current President Milos Zeman 72, who was elected for a five-year term in 2013, will seek re-election.
Other candidates are former Science Academy chairman Jiri Drahos, 68, lyricist and former businessman Michal Horacek, 65, physician Marek Hilser, 41, Vratislav Kulhanek, 73, former chairman of the Skoda car maker’s board, businessman Igor Sladek, 62, and Karel Stogl, 44, former head of Jiri Rusnok’s cabinet.
