Ex-Prime Minister Milos Zeman leads Social Democrat referendum on candidates for presidential office
With a presidential election fast approaching, the governing Social Democratic party has been holding a public vote on which candidate the party should propose for the post of the Czech Republic's future president. What may surprise some is the fact that former Prime Minister and party leader Milos Zeman is currently ahead in the vote. Alena Skodova reports:
After a vote count made on Tuesday, the message of the Social Democratic Party members and the general public seems to be quite clear. 'Zeman for President' they announce. Although no official figures from the referendum have been disclosed, an unnamed source told today's issue of the daily Lidove noviny that 23,000 people have voted so far, 8,000 of them being members of the Social Democratic party, which is approximately one third of the total membership.
The preliminary results show that Milos Zeman, who left politics in the summer and now lives in a village in south-eastern Bohemia, is clearly in the lead - more than two thirds of voters have given their vote to him. Other candidates included in the referendum are the Czech ombudsman Otakar Motejl, former Justice Minister Jaroslav Bures and academic Martin Potucek. But the situation on the positions of these three is unequivocal. The gap between Mr. Motejl and Mr. Bures is very slim, with both scoring higher in different regions.
Chairman of the Social Democrat MPs in the lower house, Milan Urban, says his party will respect the results of the referendum:
"It seems that only thousands, not hundreds of thousands of voters will take part, but we are going to take citizens' views seriously. When it makes a decision at its session on December 7th, the Central Executive Committee will fully respect the results of the vote."
A problem might arise, though, if Milos Zeman - as is widely expected - refuses to go to the first round of the presidential election, due to take place in January, when President Vaclav Havel's term of office ends. Then it's up to the party leadership to decide whom they will nominate for the first round. Most of them have agreed that it will be the one who finishes second in the referendum. Its results are to be announced on Friday. Whether Mr. Zeman will change his mind or whether he will be substituted by one of his party rivals remains to be seen.
