2013 Czech Presidential Election

[Tender Branson]

Anyone got results by Region?

http://www.volby.cz/pls/prez2013/pe3?xjazyk=EN

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Diolch yn fawr

[Kitteh]

Anyone got results by Region?

http://www.volby.cz/pls/prez2013/pe3?xjazyk=EN

Schwarzenberg got 43% in Prague 0_o

[Filuwaúrdjan]

More or less what you'd expect, surely?

[mubar]

This is not a particularly surprising result, when you remember that Zeman is - in addition to being a crazy person - a very divisive political figure. It was to be expected that people would move to support the candidate who has the most believable chances to beat him on second round. Since Fischer wasn't all too convincing in the debate, a lot of his supporters went to Schwarzenberg. Smart move, too, as Prince Karl/Karel has high personal ratings and is generally respected.

I find it very positive that both Schwarzenberg and Dienstbier, who in my opinion were all along the serious right- and left-wing candidates, outperformed the polls. Fischer was earlier considered a good candidate too, but a bit colorless and apolitical. And there is a non-negligible amount of Schadenfreude in seeing the official candidate of the mighty ODS at 2%...

One thing to remember is that political polling isn't such a sophisticated profession in Czech Republic as it's in some other countries, and this being the first direct presidential election further complicated things. And until a few weeks ago, many people were taking this election just as entertainment. With the increasing polarization after tonight's results, I expect second round polling to be more accurate.

[RodPresident]

Will ODS collapse after that night results? A Prince as President would be fun.

[minionofmidas]

In addition to bleeding from Fischer, surely the Totally Undecided section of the electorate was skewing heavily rightwing. When they have several candidates and so underpoll their previous results, this is to be expected really.

Regional results... Zeman came first or second everywhere, Schwarzenberg came fourth in three regions but not third anywhere, Dienstbier and Fischer mostly share third and fourth places but have two (Fischer) and one (Dienstbier) second place. Neither drops below fourth place anywhere. All cross 10 percent everywhere (except for the thing at the bottom that was maybe the foreign vote? where Schwarzenberg has a majority and Dienstbier and Fischer didn't cross 10.) None of the others crossed 10% anywhere.

[hawkeye59]

Who's going to win the second round?

[Famous Mortimer]

Schwarzenberg was endorsed by Vaclav Havel's brother and Vaclav Havel's former spokesperson before the election. There was some effort to present his as the heir to Havel's legacy. That might also be what pushed him into the top two.

[minionofmidas]

Diolch yn fawr

I would have thought you would have presented a map by now.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Diolch yn fawr

I would have thought you would have presented a map by now.

Cheeky

Though that's the general plan, I think.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

[minionofmidas]

Yes it's in German. But it's a very good read.

http://www.fr-online.de/meinung/leitartikel-zu-tschechien-tschechiens-tristesse,1472602,21449986.html

[GMantis]

Here are the results by district:

Anyone got results by Region?

http://www.volby.cz/pls/prez2013/pe3?xjazyk=EN

Schwarzenberg got 43% in Prague 0_o

No surprise there, big cities usually vote strongly for rightist parties in Eastern Europe. The exception in the Czech Republic seems to be Moravia and Silesia, where even the large cities seem to vote for the socialists.

[Simfan34]

Schwarzenberg made the runoff? How marvellous! I really like him, he seems honest and has been a principled advocate for his country for decades and decades. His positions on the issues, from what I've read, seem fairly close to mine. I've spoken to a few Czech people, and when it came up all had a high opinion of him- some time ago I spoke to one woman who said he was uncorrupt (because he had a lot of money already), and indeed, was too honest to serve as figurehead president. I myself can testify to his being an very kind and personable man, which I hear Zeman is not considered to be. But I'm rooting for him anyway. Also, he seems cool. He's a literal prince, and Wikipedia tells me that he almost became Austrian Foreign Minister. And he's a bow tie wearer, which makes my favour a predetermined selection (okay, when the election is down to a guy who said he liked your tie and some other person, I think it's obvious who I'd support).

I do hope I will be able to say I've met the Czech President. I am rather surprised that he's made the runoff, as I do recall the polls didn't show him doing to well, and the people I spoke to said they didn't expect him do win, either. So this comes as a surprise, albeit a very pleasant one.

[mubar]

Today the pollster ppm factum has released their second round poll, which predicts that Zeman would narrowly win with 53,7% against the 46,3% for Schwarzenberg. According to ppm factum, the key factor currently is, that only 60% of Fischer's first round voters would be going to Schwarzenberg, while as much as 79% of Dienstbier voters would support Zeman on the second round.

If it truly is so, then Zeman has succeeded in making the presidential election a left-right issue and is managing to get out the protest vote against the right-wing government. This itself is quite illogical: the currently most controversial issue in Czech Republic is the huge amnesty (especially with many corruption cases) that outgoing president Klaus granted recently, and which the ODS leader and prime minister Necas allowed to pass without consulting his government, so understandably a lot of people are furious, but it seems they are directing their anger the wrong way. Foreign minister Schwarzenberg has nothing to do with the amnesty, while at the same time Klaus clearly supports Zeman as his follower, as he said that Czech president should have spent all his life in the country. The Economist writes quite fittingly, that Zeman as president would be very much alike Klaus, while Schwarzenberg would follow Havel.

[Tender Branson]

Milos Zeman is a crazy person.

Zeman goes Akin:

Czech Women's Lobby wants Zeman to apologise for statement about rape

Prague, Jan 22 (CTK) - Czech feminists want presidential candidate Milos Zeman to apologise for his statement about raping as an evolution advantage with which he wanted to explain to his rival, nobleman Karel Schwarzenberg, why princes have degenerated that he made in a TV debate on Friday.

The Czech Women's Lobby, whose director Jana Smiggels Kavkova has written an open letter to Zeman, says similar statements offend all women.

Former Social Democrat prime minister Zeman (now SPOZ) and Foreign Minister and TOP 09 head Karel Schwarzenberg will compete for the presidential post in a direct presidential election run-off on January 25-26.

"Do you know the difference between princes and squires? Princes had the right of the first night, due to which they degenerated because they did not have to rape their female serfs, which means they did not have to use energy for the raping. On the other hand we, squires, always had to use much energy to fight out their rights, not only in the sphere of sex, and therefore we did not degenerate," Zeman, whose name translates into English as squire, said on Prima Family TV.

The association of organisations focused on women's rights considers this statement entirely inadmissible, inexcusable and reaching far beyond the border of good taste.

"The disrespecting of the victims of rape and other forms of violence against women that are, unfortunately, common in our society, survives precisely thanks to such would-be witty statements like yours. If it is made in a television debate, it has an impact on lots of male and female spectators," the feminists wrote to Zeman.

They called on him to apologise for the statement.

"It is offending all women, and not only them. You, too, are a father and husband, and respect for women should also be in your interest," the Czech Women's Lobby wrote.

http://praguemonitor.com/2013/01/23/czech-womens-lobby-wants-zeman-apologise-statement-about-rape

[Zanas]

It pisses me off that it seems I should be endorsing the right-wing candidate in this one... How much is Zeman left-wing and Schwarzenberg right-wing ? Is it the useful way of splitting them ?

And will that comment above have any effect at all on the runoff ? Are there any polls in between the two rounds ?

Yeah I ask many questions...

[Famous Mortimer]

It pisses me off that it seems I should be endorsing the right-wing candidate in this one... How much is Zeman left-wing and Schwarzenberg right-wing ? Is it the useful way of splitting them ?

And will that comment above have any effect at all on the runoff ? Are there any polls in between the two rounds ?

Yeah I ask many questions...

Based purely on economics, Zeman is a typical social democrat (maybe even a little more to the left) and Schwarzenberg is a hardcore free marketer.

Yes, just a terrible situation.

[GMantis]

This is one of the rare cases where my sympathies lie with the right-wing candidate. Zeman not only is an opponent of global warming, but his asinine behavior strongly recall the vile prime minister my country is currently saddled with. Schwarzenberg, on the other hand, seems to be a man of integrity and he has led the generally saner part of the current right-wing coalition, so he seems much more suited for the mostly ceremonial post of president.

[minionofmidas]

It pisses me off that it seems I should be endorsing the right-wing candidate in this one... How much is Zeman left-wing

Not that much.

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Very much so.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Basically just sit back and enjoy the doubtless fascinating result patterns without attachment.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Zeman has tons of dubious (at best) associations, made a lot of xenophobic comments and is too close to Klaus. Despite ideological differences, Schwarzenberg is better suited for the role of President. Oh, beside a President with mustache and pipe?

[Kitteh]

I just realized that Google has a map of these elections.

[Zioneer]

I am sad that tattoo guy didn't make it to the runoff.