Most of the Czech people I know are pretty unhappy about it, but whie I live in a rural area (Zeman has more support in rural areas), I live in a bubble of educated, usually bi-lingual or tri-lingual, white-collar folks — the type of folks who don’t like Zeman.
The ones who support him are actually happy, of course.
About the most positive thing to take from it (for those of us who are unhappy) is that the polls had Zeman winning by a wider margin. The margin was less than two percent, and when the votes of voters overseas are counted, it may be less than one percent.
The truth is, Drahoš was not a particularly strong candidate. Personally, I think that of all the candidates, Fišer came off best, but he didn’t make it to the second round.
Watching the “debate” on TV Nova (I use quotation marks because it seemed like more of a hockey match than a debate, complete with chanting crowds and cheering, jeering spectators) earlier this week was enough to tell me that Zeman was probably going to win. He’s an ugly, sickly old man, but he has an incredibly strong on-screen presence, with a dark, cynical sense of humor; and, though his presence is aprofoundly negative presence, it is still stronger than Drahouš, who, sadly, comes off like a priss, even though I don’t think he really is.
The old TV image game.
Going forward, I think this election has grave implications for the future: Zeman seems likely to confirm food-and-media billionaire Babiš’ hold on the country.
While at the moment Babiš is making a lot of pro-EU noises, I think that will change when the EU starts putting pressure on him with regards to his corruption scandals, which involved EU funds.
He will get his legal immunity in the country , but the whole country will pay for the illegality of his dealings. Unfortunately, he owns some of the most popular and mainstream media the Czech Republic has, which means the great majority of people will read and accept his skewed, spun version of the truth.
The Czech Republic, which has always been Euro-sceptic, maybe as much as the UK if not more, seems set to really be a thorn in its side and I can only see the relationship getting worse. This is a tragedy in my honest opinion, even though Zeman, as president does not have much power. It bodes badly for the future in Europe.
It all comes down to anti-immigrant sentiments, something I feel very strongly about as an immigrant myself and as someone who grew up among immigrants and counts some of them as his greatest friends. To be honest, this immigrant issue is tearing the EU apart and while everyone in Western Europe can deny that this is happening, or dismiss it as the unimportant opinion of some marginilized racists, it is that very attitude which helps fuel it further.
There is really only one world figure of respectability who should be rubbing his hands with glee with this outcome in my opinion and that is Putin, but the Chinese seemed to want it, too, as last week it emerged that the Chinese had donated heavily to some NGO’s that supported Zeman’s campaign.
