Zeman wins Czech presidential first round vote with 90 percent counted

Czech President Milos Zeman arrives to cast a vote during the country's direct presidential election at a polling station in Prague, the Czech Republic January 12, 2018. REUTERS/David W Cerny

PRAGUE (Reuters) - Incumbent Milos Zeman won the first round of the Czech Republic's presidential election on Saturday with 39.80 percent of the vote, results from 90.3 percent of voting districts showed.

The runner up was Jiri Drahos, a pro-Western academic, with 26.02 percent, well ahead of the remaining seven contenders.

The two highest-scoring candidates will go head-to-head in a run-off planned for Jan. 26-27.

(Reporting by Robert Muller; editing by Alexander Smith)