Pavel is polling at 25.4%, ahead of Babis on 23.5%. Photo credit: Z. Kolarik, Brno City Municipality.
Prague. Oct 13 (CTK) – General Petr Pavel would win the first round of the Czech presidential election if it were held in September, closely ahead of former prime minister Andrej Babis (ANO). according to the latest election model from the Median agency, released today.
Pavel is polling at 25.4% support, with Babis on 23.5%. Economist Danuse Nerudova follows in third, with 10%.
The poll also indicated that Pavel would win the second run-off round, with 59%.
Support for Pavel has been increasing over time, while support for Babis has been stagnating. Babis has not yet announced whether he will be running for president in the January election.
Respondents were asked which of two candidates they would prefer in the second round, in a variety of scenarios, and Babis would also lose against some other candidates. However, Median stressed that many voters have not yet made their final decision, and so the final result could be different.
Senator Pavel Fischer stood at 8% in the poll, union leader Josef Stredula 7.5%, Senator Marek Hilser 5.5%, and Senator Miroslava Nemcova (ODS) 5.5%, even though she is not planning to run for president.
Other potential candidates have been discussed recently, but they were not mentioned when the poll was carried out.
“It is now crucial for the presidential election whether Andrej Babis will run, or whether ANO will field some other candidate. It will be important whether this candidate is polarising in a confrontational way or not and whether they will have a chance to advance to the second round,” the pollsters said.
The second round of the election could look very different, depending on whether it included a strong candidate from ANO, or whether it brought together two candidates not related to ANO, said the pollsters. If there is a strong ANO candidate, many voters may support a candidate they are not otherwise close to, in order to prevent the election of the ANO candidate.
