Prague (EFE).- The Czech polling stations opened this Saturday at 08:00 (07:00 GMT) on the second day of the presidential elections from which the replacement for the current head of state, the Social Democrat Milos Zeman, whose second and last five-year term expires in March.
The Czechs already began to vote this Friday, with a high participation estimated at up to 50%, in a peculiar system that distributes the electoral process on Friday and Saturday.
The schools will remain open today until 2:00 p.m. (1:00 p.m. GMT) and the final results will be known a few hours later.
Some 8.4 million voters can choose their new president in the almost 15,000 polling stations between the two candidates who have passed to this second round.
Former general Petr Pavel, 61, clearly leads the polls with a 57% preference, against former populist prime minister and billionaire Andrej Babis, who has just been acquitted in an EU-funded corruption trial.
Although he was not officially nominated by the government, the former general is supported by “Spolu” (Together), the main partner of the center-right government coalition, of which the progressive Pirate Party is also a part.
Babis, for his part, has the support of his liberal populist ANO party, the most important opposition party, and also that of outgoing President Zeman.
The war in Ukraine, central element of the campaign
The Ukraine war has been a central element of the campaign, with Pavel advocating maintaining Czech support for kyiv in the face of Russian invasion, while Babis calls for a position of neutrality.
The campaign has been rough and riddled with low blows, and there have been altercations at rallies and also smear maneuvers, especially against Pavel, sending false SMS or a hoax about his death.
