Czech Republic

Choosing the future between two faces of the past

Published on 14 January 2013 at 15:26

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“Zeman versus the Prince,” headlines Respekt. Prince Karel Schwarzenberg scored a surprise result in the first round of the Czech presidential election on January 11 and 12, when he came in second, with 23.4 per cent of the vote, just 0.81 per cent behind Miloš Zeman who led the field. For the weekly, the second round scheduled for January 25 and 26 will be “very exciting, because it offers a choice between two very different paths.” While Zeman, the former leader of the Social Democratic represents the “people”, the “nobility” of the Schwarzenberg conservative has found support in large towns.

Initially viewed as an outsider, Karel Schwarzenberg, the current minister of foreign affairs and leader of the TOP 09 (conservative party), succeeded in mobilising a large section of the electorate in the final days of the campaign. Respekt attributes the surge in support for the second placed candidate “to his charisma, a very successful campaign, and a personal history that no Czech politician has been able to match since Václav Havel.”

Born into a large aristocratic family, Schwarzenberg was forced to flee Czechoslovakia when the communists took power in 1948. He later returned to the country several times to provide support for dissidents during the communist era. Following 1989, President Václav Havel appointed him as his Chancellor. Thereafter, he served as a senator and as minister of foreign affairs for the 2007-2009 government as well as the one that is currently in office.

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The 2.5m Czechs who voted in the first round (a turnout of approximately 60 per cent) “have given a chance to representatives of a generation that has defined the face of the country since the 1990s.” Hospodářské noviny adds —

Who symbolises change? Who is the man of the past, and the man of the present? The 75-year-old minister of foreign affairs, or the 68-year-old former prime minister? With all due respect, the discussion could raise a few smiles. But there is a good reason for their selection. The Czechs who have expressed their disgust for politics in the polls have shown that they are not swayed by terms like “change” and “new departure”, rather they are backing certainty and traditional brands.”

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