Sharjah24 - AFP: Friday saw the end of day one of voting in the Czech presidential election, with a billionaire, a military, and a scholar leading in the first round of what is likely to be a two-round election that is too close to call.
The winner will replace Milos Zeman, an outspoken and divisive political veteran, following a period marked by the country's 2022 EU presidency as the war in Ukraine raged.
The victor will face record inflation in the central European country of 10.5 million people, as well as bulging public finance deficits related to the war in Ukraine.
Polling stations will reopen at 8:00 am (0700 GMT) on Saturday and close at 2:00 pm, with first-round results expected later in the day.
Unless a candidate wins more than 50 percent outright, which is considered unlikely, the two top-placed contenders will go head-to-head in a second round on January 27-28.
"If you asked me to place a bet (on the result), I wouldn't," Metropolitan University Prague political scientist Petr Just told said .
Populist ex-prime minister Andrej Babis, retired general Petr Pavel and university professor Danuse Nerudova are vying to become only the fourth president since the Czech Republic was founded in 1993 following the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Casting his ballot at a school in Prague, voter Ivan Andrys said the next president should be impartial and act in lockstep with the government on foreign policy, something Zeman often failed to do.
"Of course, he or she must not give (in) to pressures... whether political or economic," Andrys said.
"I think the president should be able to unite people, be inspiring, responsible and attentive to the needs of every individual citizen," said Alena Migdauova, who voted at the same polling station.
Business tycoon and former prime minister Babis, 68, is the fifth wealthiest person in the Czech Republic, according to Forbes magazine.
Pavel, 61, is a former paratrooper who was decorated as a hero of the Serbo-Croatian war during which he helped to free French troops from a war zone.
He went on to become the chief of the Czech general staff and chair of NATO's military committee.
Nerudova, the youngest frontrunner at 44, has a strong focus on social issues and is counting largely on the backing of younger voters.
For an optimal experience, please
