Retired general Petr Pavel has won the presidential election in the Czech Republic with an unprecedented lead over his rival, former prime minister Andrej Babis, and with a record turnout at the polls.
According to the official Czech news agency CTK, the country’s Prime Minister Petr Fiala has already congratulated Pavel on his victory, confirmed by the head of government with 98 percent of the votes officially counted.
At a press conference, Fiala, who had endorsed Pavel’s candidacy, harshly criticized former Prime Minister Babis for the populism exhibited in «one of the most repugnant campaigns in the modern history» of the country, marked by threats to both candidates and an atmosphere of panic regarding the war in Ukraine.
«Populism has been directly linked to extremism, something extremely dangerous. It is good that there is a president in Prague Castle for the purpose of uniting different and calming conflicts. I look forward to working with President Pavel,» he said at a press conference reported by the Denik news portal.
Pavel obtained approximately 57.8 percent of the votes against 42.1 percent for his rival, and with a turnout of 70.2 percent, according to provisional results published on the website of the country’s national election commission.
After the results were confirmed, Pavel appeared to thank his campaign staff and to defend values such as «truth, dignity and respect» which «are the great winners of these elections» and which he hopes will return to the Prague Palace, the Czech presidential palace, to politics and to the people, including those who voted for Babis.
«It is obvious that I cannot do it alone. We have to convince all citizens that returning to these values will help us improve the quality of life in this country,» he argued, according to Radio Prague. The task «will not be easy, but it is not impossible».
Babis acknowledged his defeat and congratulated Pavel on his election as the next president of the country and urged him to be the president of all citizens, to understand their problems and to «fight for the interests of the Czech Republic».
Pavel has already been congratulated by the outgoing president, Milos Zeman; the Slovak president, Zuzana Caputová; the German president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier; the Austrian president, Alexander Van der Bellen; the president of the European Commission, Ursula Von der Leyen; the Ukrainian president, Volodimir Zelenski; the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and leaders of Poland, Hungary and Romania.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
