Petr Sokol: The result of the election is clear in advance. Prague will lose its president
The end of the Prague era
This year, from the point of view of the geographical origin of the candidates, Prague significantly burned for the first time. Ten years ago, in the second round, the capital city (Miloš Zeman) fought with Central Bohemia’s Sýkořica (Karel Schwarzenberg), and five years ago, the intra-Prague derby Zeman vs. Drahoš, although the latter was born in Jablunkov in the Moravian-Silesian region and could theoretically be the first ever Czech president from Silesia.
No one is a prophet
This time, on the other hand, the strongest “Prague” candidate finished only fourth (Pavel Fischer) and in the final we are expecting a fight between two completely non-Prague candidates. Petr Pavel was born in Planá, which is located in Tachovská in the Pilsen region. On the contrary, his competitor Andrej Babiš was not born in the territory of the current Czech Republic and is a native of Bratislava, Slovakia. In the case of Babiš’s election, there will therefore be an unusual situation where a native of a foreign country becomes the head of state. In the USA, for example, Andrej Babiš should make it a lot more complicated, because the rule there is that only one who was born as a citizen of the country can be president. It is often misinterpreted as being born in the country, the duty of the head of state the candidate in question wants to be, but it is about citizenship. Even that, for example, prevented Madeleine Albright’s presidential candidacy and succession.
But let’s go back home and remember that both finalists of the presidential election failed in the first round in their hometowns. In the general’s birthplace, Andrej Babiš received 52 percent, and in the foreign precinct based in Bratislava, Petr Pavel would become the winner in the first round with almost 55 percent. Here, too, it was true that no one is a prophet at home.
However, not one of the candidates lives in his hometown anymore. Andrej Babiš lives in Průhonice in central Bohemia in the Praha-západ district, which is the second largest stronghold of his opponent. After all, at home in Průhonice he was also beaten by the general in a ratio of 48% to 27%.
Enemy country
Today, General Pavel lives in the small village of Černouček near Roudnice nad Labem in the district of Litoměřice. The voters obviously like him there, because he triumphed here with almost 82 percent of the votes.
If Petr Pavel really became the head of state on Saturday, he would be the first ever Czech and Czechoslovakian president not only from Litoměřice, but also from the entire Ústí region. A president living in one of the main strongholds of his main opponent would thus be elected. In the first round, Andrej Babiš won both the entire Ústí Region and the general’s native Litoměřice.
Thanks to his residence, Petr Pavel would also be the next “president from the village” after a long time. The last time we were president was a native of the village, when the head of state was also a general, but in this case Ludvík Svoboda, who was born in the small village of Hroznatín in the Třebíč region, where only 111 people live today.
In terms of birthplace, on the other hand, Petr Pavel would not be a complete winner, because we already had one head of state from the territory of today’s Pilsen region. The second Czechoslovak president, Edvard Beneš, was born in Kožlany in the Pilsen-North district. Therefore, Pavlo’s presidency would mean a premiership only for Tachovské, thanks to his birthplace in Planá, which is somewhat paradoxically the sixth strongest district of Andrej Babiš from the first round.
The second Bratislavan
If Andrej Babiš was elected, we would experience a Czech, but not a Czechoslovak, premier with a Slovak native in the highest state office. After all, so far the only Slovak in Prague Castle, Gustav Husák, was also born in the place that today belongs to the Slovak capital, where the leader of ANO comes from. The first and last Slovak at the head of Czechoslovakia was a native of the then independent Dúbravka, which today forms part of Bratislava.
Even Babiš’s central Bohemian residence would not be completely original. He would follow up not only on Kolínák’s Miloš Zeman, but also on the communist president Antonín Zápotocký, who came from Zákolany in Kladno. Zápotocky’s successor at the head of communist Czechoslovakia, Antonín Novotný, was also somewhat of a Central Bohemian, who was born in Letňany in what is now Prague, but at the time of his birth were still independent villages outside the capital city. This is somewhat reminiscent of Babišovy Průhonice, which is emerging today, just beyond the line of the capital.
Moravian waiting
In addition to the fact that Prague will not have its president anyway, it is also certain that due to the non-advancement of Danuša Nerudová, who was born in Brno and lives in Kurima, the whole of Moravia will have to wait for her first president of the Czech Republic. In addition to the aforementioned Ludvík Svoboda, who also lived in Kroměříž for a long time, Tomáš G. Masaryk was born in Hodonín and the communist Klement Gottwald in Heroltice or Dědice in Vyškovsko. The fact that Petr Pavel served for a certain time, lived and found both wives in Prostejov in Hanác can only be a weak consolation for the Moravians.
For the sake of completeness, let’s just add that the last unnamed president, the head of the second Czechoslovak republic and the protectorate, Emil Hácha, was a native of the South Bohemian town of Trhové Sviny.