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30 I Central Europe bne December 2017
Responding to the new shape of the battle for the presidency, Drahos told Czech media that Topolanek represents the same things as Zeman, namely boorishness, vulgarity and a lack of respect for opponents’ views. Referring to Zeman and Topolanek as the two “matadors” of Czech politics, Drahos said voters would witness a contest of politicians versus non-politicians like himself and Michal Horacek, the pop music lyricist and millionaire former co-owner of betting company Fortuna. Like Horacek, Drahos is very supportive of the Czech Republic’s EU and Nato memberships and the country’s con- tinued orientation towards the West.
Zeman, whom the most recent polls predicted would land around a third
of the vote in the first round (unless a candidate scores an absolute majority of votes there will be a second round run- off between the contenders that come first and second). Zeman remains the clear favourite with the bookmakers to win re-election, although one poll back in September, conducted by Median, found Drahos would beat Zeman with 55.5% of the vote in a second round.
The president was buoyed on November 7 by an announcement from Tomio Okamura, leader of the far-right Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD) party which came third in the general election with 11% of the vote, that
he has decided that he will not run in the election. Pravo reported Okamura as, after visiting Zeman at Lany
Castle, saying that the SPD has four criteria for supporting a presidential candidate. These were given as support for direct democracy, opposition to Islam in the Czech Republic, a refusal to accept migrants coming into the country as part of the migrant wave, and support for Czech interests as against those of Brussels. The SPD
is also pushing for a referendum on
a Czexit and Babis, as PM, may be minded to pass a referendum law that would pave the way to such a vote.
Question mark over Zeman’s
physical fitness for office
Zeman has been battling suggestions that his health might preclude him from going on as president. His public appearances have recently been limited because of the difficulties he has with
walking. He has lately denied that he suffers from gout, while saying that after many years he is now free of diabetes. Czech media have reported him as suffering from a diabetic complication, polyneuropathy.
One test of his stamina will occur between November 21-24 when Zeman will lead the largest ever Czech corpo- rate delegation of over 120 companies to Russia. "The interest in the Russian mission is huge and the number of
the firms applying for participation can be still expected to slightly rise.
We have registered 124 participants for now," Czech Confederation of Industry spokeswoman Eva Velickova told CTK. During the trip, Zeman is due to have a tête-à-tête with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi.
A total of 19 candidates registered for the presidential race before the dead- line expired at 16:00 on November 7, although it is thought that less than half have met all the formal conditions. The election’s first round will be held on January 12-13. A second round, if necessary, will follow two weeks later.
a growing concern in some locations.
Average growth across the EBRD region will be 3.3% this year, the develop- ment bank forecast. That equates
to a rise of 0.9 percentage points
over the previous estimate from the bank that was issued in May at the time of the bank’s annual meeting. Growth in 2016 only reached 1.9%.
The EBRD tracks the economies of 37 emerging countries, where it finances projects and supports reforms that promote sustainable and environmen- tally-friendly market economies.
Emerging Europe is booming as
the bne IntelliNews magazine reported in this month’s cover story. “The
pace of growth has picked up in 27
of the EBRD’s economies this year, the first time that such a broad upturn has been seen since 2010,”
the bank said in a press release.
Higher exports and investment push first- half growth in all EBRD countries bar two
bne IntelliNews
Higher exports and rising levels
of investment on the back of improving commodity prices have prompted the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to significantly increase its forecasts for economic growth in Emerging Europe. The bank made its case for the revised forecasting in its latest Regional Economic Prospects report released on November 6 .
www.bne.eu
Countries across the entire EBRD region, with two exceptions, are enjoying broad-based growth and rising income levels. Several countries where the development bank is active are also experiencing record low unemploy- ment. The negatives in the picture are minimal and are mainly caused by economies running up against structural constraints. Rising inflation is, however,