2 Presidential Candidates to Challenge Failed Registrations in Court

Prague, Nov 29 (CTK) – Two unregistered candidates for Czech president, Terezie Holovska and Josef Toman, turned to the Supreme Administrative Court (NSS) challenging the candidates’ registration before the deadline for complaints expired today.

 

The court will decide on their complaints by December 14.

 

It has received five suggestions, one from Holovska, two from Toman and another two that it rejected because of formal shortcomings.

 

Holovska demands that the registration of candidates Petr Hannig, Marek Hilser, Jiri Hynek, Vratislav Kulhanek and Mirek Topolanek be abolished since some of the deputies and senators supported more than one candidate.

 

However, the Interior Ministry says this is not at variance with law.

 

A candidate for president has to submit a petition with at least 50,000 signatures of citizens or 20 signatures of the Chamber of Deputies members or ten senators to be registered.

 

Toman protests against the ministry’s decision not to accept his registration since he has not collected the sufficient number of verified signatures. He claims that an unknown perpetrator has stolen the sheets with some 75,000 signatures in support of his nomination, sent to the Interior Ministry.

 

The ministry confirms that it received three parcels from Toman, but it says it only found three sheets with 11 signatures, while the rest were blank sheets.

 

Holovska demands that the registration of five candidates be abolished from the position of “a suggesting citizen” since she has asked for her own registration unsuccessfully.

 

The Interior Ministry decided last week that nine presidential candidates met the registration conditions.

 

On the contrary, the ministry rejected the presidential bids of another 11 people. Along with Toman and Holovska, those were Petr Blaha, Daniel Felkel, Oldrich Fiala, Roman Hladik, Libor Hrancik, David Chadima, Anna Kasna, Martin Ludacka and Karel Svetnicka.

 

If the court does not interfere in the registration, nine men will compete for the post of head of state in January. Along with incumbent President Milos Zeman, the official candidates are former Science Academy chairman Jiri Drahos, businessman and lyricist Michal Horacek, former Civic Democrat (ODS) chairman and ex-PM Topolanek, Skoda Auto former board chairman Kulhanek (Civic Democratic Alliance, ODA), Defence and Security Industry Association President Hynek (Realists party), musician and producer Hannig, head of the marginal Reasonable party, physician and activist Hilser and former ambassador to France Pavel Fischer.