Communists announce Bobošíková as their presidential candidate

The Czech Communist Party announced on Tuesday that it would field a candidate in Friday’s elections for a new head of state, a move considered likely to help outgoing President Václav Klaus win reelection. The candidate to have been put forward by the Communist Party is the European Parliament lawmaker Jana Bobošíková, who has agreed to stand, the party said. Mrs Bobošíková will now join Václav Klaus and Czech-American economist Jan Švejnar in a new round of voting for the country’s next president scheduled for this Friday. The communists’ candidate admits to holding rightwing views - she was once an advisor to Mr. Klaus, himself the founder of the rightwing Civic Democratic Party. Analysts say that Mrs Bobošíková’s candidacy will actually boost Mr Klaus’s chances of reelection, as it splits the vote of the leftwing parties in the Czech Parliament and Senate.