PRAGUE (AP) – Retired army General Petr Pavel defeated populist billionaire Andrej Babis in a runoff vote on Saturday to become the new Czech president.
Pavel, 61, will succeed controversy-courting Milos Zeman in the largely ceremonial but prestigious post.
“My presidency will succeed only when we all succeed together,” Pavel told a cheering crowd of his supporters.
With the ballots from 97% of almost 15,000 polling stations counted by the Czech Statistics Office, Pavel had 57.8% of the vote compared with 42.2% for Babis.
Pavel is a former chairman of NATO’s military committee, the alliance’s highest military body.
He fully endorsed the country’s military and humanitarian support for Ukraine in its fight against Russia and sees the Czech Republic’s future linked to membership in the European Union and NATO.
Former Chief of General Staff of Czech Republic’s Army Petr Pavel (L) and former Czech PM and billionaire lawmaker Andrej Babis react prior to a pre-election radio debate in Prague on January 27, 2023. – Petr Pavel will face billionaire lawmaker Andrej Babis in the second round of the presidential elections on January 27 and 28, after having secured a narrow first place in the first round. (Photo by Michal Cizek / AFP) (Photo by MICHAL CIZEK/AFP via Getty Images)
It’s the second major defeat for Babis 68, who is a former prime minister. His centrist ANO (YES) movement ended up in opposition after losing the 2021 general election.
Babis had been supported by Zeman, with whom he shares euroskeptic views and the habit of using anti-migrant rhetoric, the former prime minister after his centrist ANO (YES) movement.
Pavel and Babis took part in the second round of voting because none of the eight initial candidates received an absolute majority in the first round two weeks ago.
Zeman was the first president elected by popular vote. His second and final five-year term expires in March. Lawmakers elected the previous two presidents, Vaclav Havel and Vaclav Klaus.