PRAGUE: Retired general Petr Pavel won the second round of the Czech presidential election held on Friday and Saturday, according to official results published on Saturday.
With ballots from over 93 per cent of precincts counted, Pavel had 57.44 per cent of vote, and former prime minister Andrej Babis, 42.55 per cent, reported Xinhua.
Pavel, 61, served as head of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) Military Committee. He was endorsed by the current ruling government coalition.
Babis, 68, the head of the Action of Dissatisfied Citizens (ANO) party, served as prime minister from 2017 to 2021.
In the first round on Jan 13-14, which included eight candidates, Pavel received 35.4 per cent of the vote to Babis’s 34.99 per cent.
The president of the Czech Republic is chosen in a direct election and serves a term of five years. The mandate can be held for a maximum of two consecutive terms.
Incumbent President Milos Zeman’s second and final term ends in early March. - Bernama
