Prague, Jan 3 (CTK) – Czech presidential candidate Mirek Topolanek believes that President Milos Zeman, if re-elected, would not be able to exercise his post for another five years due to being ill, he said at a press conference today.
Topolanek said the Czech Republic needed a strong president with sufficient experience and energy and one who would stand up for the people facing Brussels and the country’s current strong prime minister Andrej Babis (ANO).
Zeman divides the society, which makes him a weak president, he said.
As a reason for Zeman’s strong base of supporters, Topolanek cited the fact that his voters have not seen him lately, stressing that he was an person of poor health.
Zeman does not participate in pre-election debates because he would lose some of the supporters he has, he said.
Topolanek said he was annoyed by the format of the debates and the fact that only eight of the nine candidates take part in them, that is all apart from Zeman. He said the candidates were not being asked the same questions and that they could not hold a discussion with each other, which made the debates superficial.
He would not participate in some of the debates until the start of the presidential election on January 12-13, he added.
Topolanek described a struggle against artificial splitting of the society as one of his priorities.
The president should be able to speak with everyone, he said.
Introducing his supporters, he cited former Civic Democrat (ODS) senator Zdenek Schwarz and a senator and former health minister for the ODS, which he led in 2002-2010, Daniela Filipiova. Topolanek was the Czech prime minister in 2006-2009.