Election of the President of the Czech Republic in 2023

Abstract

The election of the President of the Czech republic has only been held directly since 2013. this system of holding them allows a wide range of diverse candidates to run and promotes greater democratisation of the political system. In the final run-off in 2023, nine people were in the running, with three counting until the end: Petr Pavel, andrej babiš and Danuše Nerudová. Pavel won strongly in the second round, defeating former Prime Minister babiš. the turnout was over 70%, a figure never before recorded in an election of a Czech head of state.the election was a clash of two visions of what foreign policy the Czech republic should
pursue. Pavel is a strong advocate of rapprochement with the West, advocating support for Ukraine in its war with russia. babiš took a different position on these issues and his unfortunate statements before the decisive vote decided his defeat. The elections highlighted once again and confirmed the political division in society. Pavel enjoyed the greatest support in the capital, large cities (except ostrava), and generally among supporters of the ruling coalition. the former prime minister, on the other hand, was supported by voters from regions negatively affected by the political transition and by opposition parties.