Zeman rules out standing in first round of presidential election

Former Prime Minister Milos Zeman has been speaking to reporters after emerging as the clear winner of the so-called “party referendum”, organised by the senior coalition Social Democrats to choose a presidential candidate. The poll suggested that Mr Zeman - seen as representing the party's old guard - was the most popular candidate among Social Democrat supporters. This has been an embarrassment to the party leadership, who hoped the poll would endorse their preferred candidate, the country's ombudsman Otakar Motejl. Mr Zeman repeated on Sunday that he would only stand in the second round of the presidential election, posing more problems for the Social Democrats, who want to field a candidate in the first round.