2023 Czech Presidential Election

Presidential elections will be held in the Czech Republic on 13 and 14 January 2023.

Incumbent president Miloš Zeman is not eligible to run due to the two-term limit. As was the case in the last two presidential elections, the vote will be direct.

Background

Before 2018 election

Initial speculation about the 2023 election began after the first direct presidential election in 2013. Political scientist Ladislav Cabada said he expected the new president to be younger than Miloš Zeman when he was elected in 2013. Jiří Dienstbier Jr. was often mentioned as a potential left-wing candidate. Cabada mentioned Petr Fiala as a possible right-wing candidate. There was also speculation that ANO 2011 leader Andrej Babiš might run for president in 2023.

2018 election

At the previous election in January 2018, Miloš Zeman was elected for his second and final term. After Zeman's victory in 2018, there was speculation that the next election might be held sooner than 2023 due to Zeman's health. Speculation about possible successors to Zeman started soon after the election, with bookmakers considering Václav Klaus Jr. as the favourite. ANO 2011 leader Andrej Babiš stated that his party would nominate its own candidate for the next election.

2019–2021

In summer 2019, the leaders of the opposition Civic Democratic Party, Pirate Party, KDU-ČSL, TOP 09 and Mayors and Independents met to discuss a possible common candidate. The most discussed candidate was Petr Pavel. Other names included Miroslava Němcová and Věra Jourová. The Czech Social Democratic Party was also invited to the meeting but declined as it planned to support Josef Středula, President of the Bohemian-Moravian Confederation of Trade Unions. Speculation about Zeman's health was renewed in October 2019 when Zeman went into hospital and talked about his possible successors, noting Josef Středula, Vladimír Dlouhý and Andrej Babiš.

Marek Hilšer announced his candidacy on 21 November 2019. He started gathering signatures for his nomination on the same day.

On 6 April 2020 Petr Pavel launched an initiative called "Stronger Together", aimed at helping those working in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, especially in crowdfunding financial support for volunteers helping in hospitals or creating medical tools. Political commentators including Petr Holec and Ondřej Leinert suggested that the initiative was a launch of Pavel's presidential bid, noting the similarity with Hillary Clinton's slogan during the 2016 United States presidential election. Pavel said in July 2021 that he plans to run for the presidency and is preparing his campaign. Pavel also visited various regions, which was described by journalists including Tereza Šídlová as campaign activity.

The 2021 legislative election resulted in defeat for ANO 2011, led by Prime Minister Andrej Babiš, and a majority for the opposition parties in the Chamber of Deputies. This prompted speculation that Babiš might run for the presidency following his defeat in the legislative election. Following the election on 10 October, President Zeman was hospitalized, casting doubts over how and when the government formation talks would be held. On 11 October, a spokesman for the hospital said that Zeman's condition had stabilized, but he could not yet talk about the prognosis: "The reason for eman'shospitalization are complications from the illnesses for which he has been receiving treatments." SPOLU leader Petr Fiala stated on 12 October 2021 that the alliance would nominate a candidate.

On 18 October 2021, Miloš Vystrčil, the President of the Senate of the Czech Republic, announced he had received a letter from the Central Military Hospital declaring Zeman unfit to fulfil his duties as the president, and indicated plans to trigger Article 66 of the constitution to temporarily remove Zeman from office. In response, the Senate announced their intention to transfer Zeman's constitutional powers to the incumbent prime minister Andrej Babiš and the speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Radek Vondráček, also of ANO 2011. However, he was discharged from hospital on 27 November 2021 and resumed his duties.

The outgoing Prime Minister Andrej Babiš stated on 20 November 2021 that he would run for Presidency if his supporters gather the required 50,000 signatures. Security analyst Miloslav Ondra launched an initiative to do so and started gathering signatures at Anděl metro station on 1 December 2021, reaching 200 signatures. According to Ondra, he has around 50 gathering stations across the Czech Republic.

Declarations and Nominations

Karel Janeček, a billionaire entrepreneur and anti-corruption activist, announced his candidacy on 21 January 2022, launching his campaign with the slogan "This is Us." Janeček said he was annoyed by the lying, manipulation and populism in politics.

Kateřina Konečná confirmed on 31 January 2022 that the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia intends to nominate a candidate. Josef Skála and Vojtěch Filip were confirmed to be seeking the party's nomination. On 2 February 2022 Skála was announced as the candidate of the Communist Party. On 14 February 2022, Jakub Olbert stated that he had gathered 30,000 signatures for his candidacy.

Denisa Rohanová announced on 18 February that she had submitted her candidacy signed by 20 MPs of the Chamber of Deputies who were elected in the 2017 election, saying she had met the requirements to qualify for the ballot. Her opinion was challenged by constitutional lawyer Jan Kysela, who argued that Rohanová could not use the signatures of former MPs. Rohanová stated that she was still intending to collect 50,000 signatures from citizens, and had already gathered 27,000.

Středula announced his candidacy and began collecting signatures on 5 May 2022. The leader of the Czech Social Democratic Party, Michal Šmarda, announced that his party would likely support Středula's candidacy. He is supported by the incumbent President Miloš Zeman. Former Rector of Charles University Tomáš Zima announced his candidacy on 26 May 2022.

On 27 May 2022, SPD MEP Hynek Blaško announced his intention to run for president. His candidacy was endorsed by the far-right Workers' Party of Social Justice (DSSS).

Danuše Nerudová announced her candidacy on 31 May 2022. On 20 June 2022, Tomáš Březina announced he had gathered the required 50,000 signatures.

On 27 June 2022 the date of election was scheduled for 13 and 14 January 2023, with the second round scheduled for 27 and 28 January if necessary.

Petr Pavel confirmed his intention to run on 29 June 2022, saying that he would launch his campaign officially in August 2022. Pavel stated that he wanted to win the election so that the Czech Republic would not have to feel ashamed by its President. In July 2022 Zima launched his campaign and started gathering signatures. He used an old ambulance for his campaign to represent his relationship to the health system. Pavel officially announced his candidacy on 6 September 2022 when he launched his campaign, with the slogan "Let's bring order and peace back to the Czech Republic".

The Spolu coalition of ODS, TOP 09 and KDU-ČSL confirmed in September 2022 that it would not nominate a joint candidate. Some members of ODS stated that Pavel Fischer was the candidate whose views were closest to the party. KDU-ČSL leader Marian Jurečka said his party would endorse a candidate.

Karel Janeček launched his campaign on 7 September 2022 at the VR Play Park. He appeared in front of journalists in a VR suit to say that anybody could visit his Metaverse platform to submit their signature. Janeček was reported to be the first political candidate to use the Metaverse in his campaign. He said he would appear in the Metaverse on scheduled occasions to answer questions.

On 10 September 2022 Freedom and Direct Democracy announced it would nominate MP Jaroslav Bašta for the presidency. On 27 September 2022, Pavel announced he had gathered 55,000 signatures so far, enough to participate in the election. On 3 October 2022 Pavel Fischer confirmed his candidacy, saying that he would launch his campaign in late October 2022.

On 4 October 2022, Spolu leader and Prime Minister Petr Fiala confirmed that Spolu would not nominate its own candidate, and would instead endorse three candidates whose views were considered closest to those of ODS, KDU-ČSL and TOP 09, namely Pavel Fischer, Danuše Nerudová and Petr Pavel. Following the 2022 Czech Senate election, it was speculated that ANO 2011 may endorse Josef Středula, but Babiš confirmed on 10 October 2022 that ANO 2011 would nominate its own candidate. On 10 October 2022 Fischer announced that he had gathered 10 signatures from Senators, allowing him to run.

Karel Janeček admitted on 11 October 2022 that he had failed to gather 50,000 signatures, so he was seeking nominations from senators. On 12 October 2022 it was reported that Cyril Svoboda, former leader of KDU-ČSL, had started gathering signatures in the Senate to allow him to run. Svoboda initially refused to comment, but on 13 October confirmed he would not be running as he had failed to gather enough signatures. Nerudová announced on the same day she had gathered enough signatures to submit her candidacy. Tomáš Zima announced on 18 October 2022 that he had collected signatures from 13 senators allowing him to run. Zima said he had collected 37,000 from citizens so far, and could have over 50,000 by November, but had decided to insure himself with senators' signatures. Pavel Fischer launched his campaign on 18 October 2022, with the slogan "The Czech Republic in First Place". He said his priorities were respect for tradition, democracy and human rights, society's resistance to hostile influences, economic development, and the economic independence of the Czech Republic.

On 30 October 2022, ANO 2011 leader Andrej Babiš announced his candidacy as the nominee of his party. Petr Pavel said that Babiš's candidacy was to be expected. He added that Babiš would breathe new life into the debates but that his candidacy was "a threat to the Czech Republic". Nerudová noted that Babiš had been unable to find a better candidate than himself and decided to run despite forecasts not giving him much chance. On 14 October 2022 Hilšer confirmed he had gathered the signatures of 14 Senators allowing him to run.

Several candidates for president support LGBT rights such as same-sex marriage and adoptions including: Danuše Nerudová, Petr Pavel, Marek Hilšer, Karel Janeček, and Josef Středula. Tomáš Zima also expressed support for same-sex marriage.

Candidates

In order to qualify for the ballot, candidates must gather 50,000 signatures from citizens, or the support of twenty Deputies or ten Senators. The candidates must file their applications and signatures 66 days before the election, following which the Interior Ministry will verify a sample of the signatures.

Disqualified

* Tomáš Březina submitted 70,000 signatures, but after two samples of each petition were checked and the total number reduced according to the error rate, the number fell below the required 50,000, and Březina was thus disqualified. He initially announced his intention to submit a complaint to the Supreme Administrative Court, but subsequently decided not to submit the complaint and withdrew from the election. Despite this, he maintained that his appeal would have been successful.
* Václav Hačecký
* Roman Hladík
* Terezie Holovská
* Jiří Horváth
* Libor Hrančík
* Karel Janeček submitted 73,000 signatures, but this total was reduced following sample analysis to 48,000, below the requirement. He submitted a complaint to the Supreme Administrative Court. His complaint was rejected by the court on 13 December 2022.
* Anna Kašná
* Jiří Kotáb submitted his candidacy application after the deadline.
* Roman Lalik
* Denisa Rohanová, President of the Czech Association of Debtors, announced her candidacy on 1 April 2021. She submitted her nomination papers with signatures from 20 Deputies of the previous Chamber of Deputies. She was initially registered as a candidate but eventually disqualified by a court ruling.
* Josef Roušal
* Milan Tomeček
* Pavel Zítko

Withdrawn

* Hynek Blaško, retired Czech Army major general and SPD MEP, announced he would run if his supporters gathered the required 50,000 signatures. His candidacy was supported by the Workers' Party of Social Justice. He failed to gather enough signatures and subsequently withdrew from the election.
* Ivo Mareš, a theologian, announced his candidacy on 3 May 2022. He withdrew on 2 November 2022 having failed to gather enough signatures.
* Jakub Olbert, leader of We Will Open Czechia, announced his candidacy and started gathering signatures on 19 October 2021. He failed to gather enough signatures and withdrew from the election.
* Josef Skála was confirmed as the Communist Party candidate on 2 February 2022. He withdrew his candidacy on 7 November 2022, as he had gathered only 36,000 signatures.
* Klára Long Slámová, a lawyer, announced her candidacy in May 2021. She withdrew in 2022.
* Alena Vitásková, Chair of the Energy Regulatory Office, announced her candidacy on 24 January 2022. She said she had gathered 65,000 signatures, but on 8 November 2022 she withdrew her candidacy.

Other announced candidates

The following individuals announced they were running but in the end did not submit their candidacy papers. Some of them had started collecting signatures.
* Jiří Paroubek, former Prime Minister and leader of ČSSD, announced his intention to run for President in February 2018.
* Jaromír Soukup, a businessman and TV presenter, announced his candidacy on 16 April 2019.
* Martin Uhlíř, a political activist, announced his intention to run on 12 April 2018.

Declined

* Marek Eben, a television host, had appeared as a leading candidate in some early opinion polls, but has since stated that he does not have any ambition to run.
*Petr Fiala, Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, was speculated to be a possible candidate following his visit to Kyiv, but ruled himself out.
* Miroslav Kalousek, former Finance Minister and leader of TOP 09, stated on 5 December 2021 that he was seriously considering running, but eventually decided not to run.
* Václav Klaus Jr., former MP, was considered by bookmakers as a favourite to become president following the 2018 presidential election, and he did not rule out becoming a candidate. Political scientists such as Jan Kubáček said they believed that Klaus was planning to run for the presidency. He later ruled out his candidacy during an interview for Seznam Zprávy.
* Tomio Okamura, leader of SPD, was mentioned in the media as a possible candidate. SPD eventually nominated a different candidate.
*Miroslava Němcová, ODS MP, was called on to stand by opponents of Zeman after his inauguration in 2018. She declined to run.
* Tomáš Pojar, an expert on foreign affairs and security, was discussed as a potential candidate of Spolu ( ODS, KDU-ČSL and TOP 09).
*Vít Rakušan, leader of Mayors and Independents, initially did not rule out running, but ruled out his candidacy on 22 December 2021.
*Miloš Vystrčil, ODS Senator and the President of the Senate, was called upon by supporters to run in June 2020 after he announced his decision to visit Taiwan. He declined to run.

Debates

Opinion polls

References

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Future elections in the Czech Republic

2023 elections in the Czech Republic