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New Czech president will not divide but conciliate

Tuesday, January 31, 2023

Significance

The electorate mobilised against the populist Andrej Babis and elected the pro-Western Pavel to the largely ceremonial yet still influential post of president. Votes from more than 3.3 million people have given Pavel a strong mandate. The presidency will be occupied by a competent, consensual and accommodating figure, who is perceived as a compromise even by some Babis supporters.

Impacts

  • With Pavel in office, the Czech Republic’s international reputation will be significantly better than it has been for a decade.
  • Babis’s defeat is not a disaster for Ano as it controls most of the opposition space.
  • While defeat may encourage schismatic tendencies within Ano, it should not lead to serious destabilisation of the party.

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