Czech presidential race has 21 candidates, Romani volunteers so far supporting one billionaire and one disinformation purveyor

The entrepreneurs Karel Diviš and Karel Janeček as well as union boss Josef Středula turned in their applications on 8 November. The candidates with the highest chances of being elected, according to opinion polls, are former PM Andrej Babiš (ANO), former Rector of Mendel University in Brno, Danuše Nerudová, and former Czech Army Chief of Staff Petr Pavel.

The first round of elections will take place on 13 and 14 January 2023 and will cost approximately CZK 800 million [EUR 33 million]. The number of candidates is similar to the election for president five years ago, when 20 people applied to run.

The names of all the candidates will not be published by the Interior Ministry until 25 November after reviewing whether their applications meet all the legal requirements and registering their campaigns. Hana Malá of the ministry had previously said that some applications for candidacy apparently do not fulfill all of the requirements.

Five years ago, the ministry allowed just nine of the 20 candidates who had applied to run for president. The condition for becoming a presidential candidate is signatures from at least 20 MPs, 10 senators, or 50,000 citizens.

Romani voters collected signatures for Czech billionaire Janeček

As of the morning of 8 November, 16 candidates had been nominated including the front-runners. Chair of the Czech-Moravian Confederation of Trade Unions (ČMKOS) Středula then delivered his application in person to the Interior Ministry in Prague.

Středula will run with the support of 11 senators. He told journalists he had also collected 67,500 citizens’ signatures, but that number fell to 62,384 after an internal audit.

Both Babiš and Středula have also been publicly supported by the outgoing Czech President Miloš Zeman. “I am running so people will be able to choose a candidate without any communist past involving collaboration with the previous regime, as well as a person with social sensitivity,” Středula said.

Entrepreneurs Diviš and Janeček also filed their applications on the last possible day. Janeček told journalists he collected more than 73,000 citizen signatures.

Romani volunteers aided Janeček with collecting signatures at different events. His main Romani supporter is Michal Giňa, with whom Janeček did an interview as an inspirational person.

Janeček thanked Giňa for reaching out to him, helping him get to know more about Romani culture, and sharing his vision with the broader public. “I am convinced my chances are greater than the golden ratio of pi, or the square root of five minus one, divided by two,” Janeček declared.

The billionaire plans to close his campaign by speaking with voters about the same subjects he always has. “These are the matters I have long taken an interest in – education and a fair society,” he said.

Janeček also mentioned freedom, which in his view is slowly being lost in Czech society. Last year, when handing out the “Czech Nightingale” popular music awards, he gave a speech criticizing the vaccination of children against COVID-19 that was negatively received.

Diviš, an entrepreneur and former sports commentator, collected 61,600 signatures for his candidacy. He plans to discuss the subjects of significantly strengthening the country’s ability to defend itself, support for regional economies, and the economy of education.

Disinformation purveyor Pavel Zítko supported by co-chair of the Roma Luma party

Pavel Zítko, a purveyor of disinformation, also delivered his application and signatures in person to the Interior Ministry. Marco Cavali, one of two co-chairs of the Romani-established political party Roma Luma, has been expressing his distinct support for Zítko in recent days.

Journalist Patrik Banga has previously warned of Cavali’s connection to the disinformation scene in his podcast, “Bez obalu” (“Straight Talk”). During September’s local elections, Cavali ran on the same list with former “Freedom and Direct Democracy” (SPD) member Robert Vašíček.

Some Romani community members sharply criticized Cavali for that decision. Neither Cavali, nor Vašíček, nor any Roma Luma candidates were elected.

Public broadcaster Czech Television (ČT) has reported that Zítko is a disinformation purveyor who makes money from his lies. According to ČT he is currently under three collections proceedings but also has a registered association to which donors have sent more than CZK 650,000 [EUR 27,000] so far this year.

Zítko claims he got more than 50,000 signatures in just a few days. The Czech media report that he is one of the most visible purveyors of disinformation.

Ahead of the inauguration of US President Joe Biden, Zítko incorrectly predicted he would not take office. He then said Biden has long been dead and that a body double for him is governing in the USA.

In another video, Zítko alleged that Ukrainians have chained up and imprisoned children underneath the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and are harvesting their organs. Conspiracy theories about inoculations against COVID-19, claiming they contain the HIV virus, have long been part of his repertoire.

Front-runners: Babiš, Nerudová, Pavel

Retired General Pavel had filed his application for candidacy before the deadline and was supported by the signatures of 81,000 people, while ex-PM Babiš, chair of the ANO movement, got the signatures of 56 ANO MPs for his candidacy. Nerudová, the former university rector, submitted her application with the signatures of more than 82,000 people.

Babiš, Nerudová and Pavel are the front-runners according to bookmakers and opinion polls. Bookmakers Chance, Fortuna, SazkaBet and Tipsport are giving Pavel odds of 2.1.:1, Babiš odds of 3.5:1 and Nerudová odds of 3.8:1.

The former head of the Energy Regulation Authority, Alena Vitásková, has ultimately decided not to run. Vitásková told the Czech News Agency that as of Monday she had collected more than 64,000 signatures, but she had conditioned her run on getting 100,000.

Communist candidate Josef Skála will also not seek the presidency, saying he did not get the necessary 50,000 signatures. In his statement, Skála accused his competitors of having “bought” their signatures “through commercial agencies”.

Pavel Fischer and Marek Hilšer run again

Applications were filed again this year by Czech Senator Pavel Fischer (independent) and by Czech Senator Marek Hilšer of the “Mayors and Independents” club, both of whom unsuccessfully ran for president five years ago. Other candidates are the SPD MP Jaroslav Bašta, entrepreneur Tomáš Březina, president of the Czech Debtors’ Association (Česká asociace povinných) Denisa Rohanová, and the former Rector of Charles University in Prague, Tomáš Zima.

The Interior Ministry will be taking a random sample of 8,500 citizen signatures for each applicant and auditing them in detail. If they discover too many errors among them, they will take another sample of the same size, average the number of incorrect signatures, and subtract that average from the total.

The prospective candidates will have until 24 November to correct the errors; it will not be possible to add more signatures. The state will be paying about CZK 800 million [EUR 33 million] to organize the election, according to the Interior Ministry’s budget.

That money will be used to pay election commissioners’ salaries and to print ballots. The first round of voting will happen on 13-14 January 2023 and any runoff will take place two weeks later.