Presidential election in the Czech Republic 2013

The first direct presidential election in the Czech Republic in 2013 took place on January 11th and 12th, 2013. Since no candidate received an absolute majority in the first ballot, a second ballot on January 25 and 26, 2013 was necessary. Miloš Zeman (Prime Minister 1998-2002) won the election against Karel Schwarzenberg (Foreign Minister 2007-2009 and 2010-2013).

prehistory

The 2013 presidential election was the first direct election of a president in the Czech Republic and the result of a constitutional amendment that was passed in 2012. On February 8, 2012, the majority of the Czech senators voted in favor of this change, previously the change had been passed on December 14, 2011 in the Chamber of Deputies . The prerequisite for this, however, was that the implementation law was passed in good time, in which questions such as nomination, candidacy, mode of election as well as some changes in authority are regulated; there was disagreement on the last question. If the law had not been adopted in time, no new president could have been elected after the end of the current president's term of office. Previously, the President was elected by the House of Representatives and the Senate, usually in several joint sessions (ballots).

The previous President of the Czech Republic, Václav Klaus , left his post on March 3, 2013.

Candidates

Campaign tent of candidate Vladimír Franz in Prague

Ballot for the second ballot

Both party politicians and independent candidates could apply. To be eligible for election, a candidate had to meet one of the following requirements:

• The support of at least 20 MPs or Senators in Parliament
• The support of at least 50,000 eligible voters

A total of 19 different candidates applied for the office of President.

Admitted candidates

The following candidates were accepted for election:

No.	candidate		Political party	Alignment
1.		Zuzana Roithová	KDU-ČSL	Christian Democratic
2.		Jan Fischer	Independently
3.		Jana Bobošíková	SBB	conservative , Eurosceptic
4th		Táňa Fischerová	KH
5.		Přemysl Sobotka	ODS	conservative , Eurosceptic
6th		Miloš Zeman	SPOZ	Middle left
7th		Vladimír Franz	Independently
8th.		Jiří service beer	ČSSD	social democratic
9.		Karel Schwarzenberg	TOP 09	liberal-conservative, center-right

Candidates not admitted

The following candidates were not allowed to vote because they did not meet the relevant requirements:

• Vladimír Dlouhý
• Tomio Okamura
• Klára Samková
• Petr Cibulka
• Jiří Kesner
• Karel Světnička
• Anna Kašná
• Iveta Heimová
• Jindřiška Nazarská
• Roman Hladík

Survey

candidate	Political party	Jul 2012	Aug 2012	Sep 2012	Oct. 2012	Nov. 2012	Dec 2012	Jan. 2013
Zuzana Roithová	KDU-ČSL	3.7	3.0	3.4	3.6	4.3	4.4	4.6
Jan Fischer	Independently	22.2	22.0	27.7	30.1	28.1	25.0	20.1
Jana Bobošíková	SBB	6.4	5.3	3.8	4.5	3.3	4.1	5.6
Táňa Fischerová	KH	-	-	-	-	4.6	4.4	4.6
Přemysl Sobotka	ODS	4.3	4.8	5.7	4.3	6.4	6.8	7.1
Miloš Zeman	SPOZ	18.2	20.6	22.7	21.9	19.4	25.6	25.1
Vladimír Franz	Independently	-	-	6.6	4.5	5.6	9.8	11.4
Jiří service beer	ČSSD	8.2	6.5	6.9	6.5	8.8	10.6	10.6
Karel Schwarzenberg	TOP 09	6.6	5.2	5.9	6.6	6.7	9.2	11.0

Election result

First ballot
Most votes in the districts:

Miloš Zeman

Karel Schwarzenberg

Second ballot
Most votes in the districts:

Miloš Zeman

Karel Schwarzenberg

As expected, Miloš Zeman won the most votes in the first round (24.21%). Karel Schwarzenberg, who had previously been given a maximum of third place (23.40%), followed just behind. The turnout in the first ballot was 61.31%. Zeman and Schwarzenberg competed in the runoff election on January 25 and 26, 2013. Zeman won this with 54.80% of the vote against Schwarzenberg, who scored 45.19%.

Before the second ballot, the discussion about the expulsion of the Sudeten Germans after the Second World War surprisingly played an important role in the election campaign . Karel Schwarzenberg provided ammunition for his opponent's election campaign with his public statement that this eviction was from today's perspective a major human rights crime and that those responsible for the Beneš decrees would probably have to answer before the Hague War Crimes Tribunal. Schwarzenberg was then accused in full-page advertising campaigns that he was a spokesman for the Sudeten Germans, not a real Czech and might support and fulfill the Sudeten Germans' return claims. It was also criticized that his Austrian wife did not speak Czech. Schwarzenberg described the allegations as a dirt campaign. Another issue was corruption and nepotism. On this issue, Schwarzenberg had a political advantage, as Zeman, as the former prime minister, was counted among the old generation of politicians and is also associated with some corruption scandals.

The election was won in the second ballot by Zeman with a clear majority. Schwarzenberg was only ahead in a few electoral districts, including the metropolitan areas of Prague, Brno and Plzeň . Election analysts expressed the view that Schwarzenberg had mostly only reached the left-wing liberal urban young electorate with his colorful election campaign, while for the rural electorate he was mainly the "foreigner" and "very rich aristocrat with little understanding for the worries and needs of the socially weak "stayed.

Result of the 2013 presidential election in the Czech Republic

candidate	Political party	1st ballot		2nd ballot
		be right	%	be right	%
Miloš Zeman	SPOZ	1,245,848	24.21	2,717,405	54.80
Karel Schwarzenberg	TOP 09	1,204,195	23.40	2,241,171	45.19
Jan Fischer	independent	841,437	16.35
Jiří service beer	ČSSD	829.297	16.12
Vladimír Franz	independent	351.916	6.84
Zuzana Roithová	KDU-ČSL	255.045	4.95
Táňa Fischerová	KH	166.211	3.23
Přemysl Sobotka	ODS	126,846	2.46
Jana Bobošíková	SBB	123.171	2.39
total		5,143,966	100.00	4,958,576	100.00
Valid votes		5,143,966	99.53	4,958,576	99.50
Invalid votes		24,195	0.47	24,905	0.50
voter turnout		5,168,161	61.31	4,983,481	59.11
Registered voters		8,435,522	-	8,434,941	-
Source: Czech Statistical Office

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b} Bohemian nobleman amazed in the Czech Republic Welt Online , January 12, 2013
2. ↑ ^{a b c} vote in parliament. Czech Republic conducts direct election of the president in Spiegel online, accessed on November 5, 2012
3. ↑ K přímé volbě zbývá ještě přijmout pravidla. Jinak hrozí hradní vacuum. Report from the iDnes news portal, online at: zpravy.idnes.cz , in Czech, accessed on July 10, 2012
4. ↑ Survey 07/2012  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ppm factum (Czech)  
5. ↑ Survey 08/2012  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ppm factum (Czech)  
6. ↑ Survey 09/2012  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ppm factum (Czech)  
7. ↑ Survey 10/2012  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ppm factum (Czech)  
8. ↑ Survey 11/2012  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ppm factum (Czech)  
9. ↑ Survey 12/2012  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ppm factum (Czech)  
10. ↑ Survey 01/2013  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ppm factum (Czech)  
11. ↑ ^{a b} Official results of the 2013 presidential election Czech Statistical Office (English)
12. ↑ http://www.volby.cz/pls/prez2013/pe2?xjazyk=CZ
13. ↑ Zeman a Schwarzenberg se v druhé střetli televizní Debate. Lehčí tón střídaly tvrdé útoky. IHNED.cz, January 18, 2013, accessed on January 26, 2013 (cz). 
14. ↑ Zeman becomes the new President of the Czech Republic: Election decided - country split. tagesschau.de, January 26, 2013, archived from the original on January 27, 2013 ; Retrieved January 26, 2013 .