Polls promise tight run-off in Czech presidential vote

The Czech presidential run-off pitting pro-Russian incumbent Milos Zeman against pro-European academic Jiri Drahos on Friday and Saturday is shaping up to be a very tight showdown, according to the latest polls. Zeman, a 73-year-old ex-communist who is popular mainly in rural areas and known for his fiery anti-Muslim rhetoric, won 38.56 percent of the vote in the first round on January 12-13, topping a field of nine candidates. Drahos, a 68-year-old former head of the Czech Academy of Sciences, scored 26.6 percent, thanks to strong support from voters in Prague and other big cities. Analysts believe Drahos has a slight advantage ahead of the runoff as candidates who dropped out in round one have thrown their support behind the academic. On Monday, the top-selling Czech broadsheet DNES daily quoted a poll saying that 47 percent of voters would "definitely" vote Drahos and 43 percent would pick Zeman. The STEM/MARK agency conducted the survey on a sample of 1,078 voting age respondents last week in the wake of the January 12-13 first round of the election. "Neither of the two candidates has won the backing of more than 50 percent of voters yet," said DNES, predicting an "extremely exciting" showdown. About ten percent of those who will go to the polls are still undecided, according to the survey. A poll by the Kantar TNS and Median agencies for Czech Television showed on Sunday that 45.5 percent of Czechs would vote Zeman, against 45 percent in favour of Drahos. "About 9.5 percent (of 1,522 respondents) were still undecided," said Kantar TNS analyst Pavel Ranocha. The Reflex weekly has predicted a 50-50 draw in a detailed analysis of votes from the failed first-round candidates. Zeman and Drahos will face each other in TV debates on Tuesday and Thursday. Polling stations will open at 1300 GMT on Friday and close at 2100 GMT, then reopen at 0700 GMT and close at 1300 GMT on Saturday, with results expected on Saturday afternoon.