Leftist and 'punk prince' square off in Czech runoff

Czechs went to the polls Friday to choose a new president between a former communist and a 75-year-old aristocrat whose Sex Pistols-inspired campaign brought the election to life and down to the wire. The two-day second round will end a decade under eurosceptic Vaclav Klaus but few dared to predict which of the two Europe-friendly rivals would succeed him, with veteran left-winger Milos Zeman and Karel Schwarzenberg, the central European republic's blue-blooded foreign minister, locked in a tight race. "It'll be very tight. I'm not nervous, far from it, I'm calm, we'll see," Schwarzenberg said after voting in Sykorice, a village near his castle southwest of Prague. Zeman, 68, scored 24.2 percent in the January 11-12 first round, narrowly trumping rival Schwarzenberg, who clinched a surprise second spot finish with 23.4 percent. "I've said all I wanted to say, now it's the turn of citizens," Zeman said, also playing it cool after voting in Prague. Corruption and painful austerity cuts amid recession were also highlighted in the campaign. Analysts say age will count as Czechs head to the ballot box. "If young people decide to go to the polls, Karel Schwarzenberg will win. The more of them go, the better his chances," Frantisek Vrabel, a consultant with the Semantic Visions think tank, said earlier this week. A well-connected former presidential aide to Czech Velvet Revolution icon Vaclav Havel, Schwarzenberg has trumped Zeman online, scoring over half a million "Likes" on his Facebook campaign page. Dubbed "The Prince" for his noble roots, he is wooing young voters with a punked-out Mohawk hairdo in yellow-and-fuchsia pink pop-art "Karel is not Dead!" and "Karel for PreSIDent" campaign posters, reminiscent of Britain's Sex Pistols band album covers. "I think he'll be able to present the Czech Republic in Europe and in the world, unlike Milos Zeman," said Katerina Buzkova, a young Prague native who voted for him on Friday. Perceived as an intelligent elder statesman who is above corruption due to his independent wealth, the bow-tie wearing, pipe-puffing Schwarzenberg also appeals to the older generation. "He's honest, he doesn't have to steal because he has enough money," pensioner Libuse Rohlova told AFP upon casting her ballot Friday in Sykorice. Others give Zeman the edge for his traditionally leftist approach to social spending and religion. "I'm against school fees, and the restitution of church properties (nationalised under communism). This is why I chose Zeman," Prague university student Gabriela Peresta told AFP, referring to policies of the centre-right government to which Schwarzenberg belongs. "Milos Zeman is addressing voters from lower-income groups, older and less educated," Josef Mlejnek, a political analyst from Charles University in Prague, told AFP, adding he "would rather bet on Zeman" who set the campaign agenda, but admitting the race would be "very tight." Zeman, an ex-premier, has also skewered Schwarzenberg for being part of the centre-right government of right-wing Prime Minister Petr Necas, responsible for painful austerity cuts amid recession. Heavily reliant on car exports to Western Europe, notably Germany, the Czech Republic sank into recession a year ago amid the eurozone crisis, after posting 1.9-percent growth in 2011. A 0.9-percent contraction is forecast for 2012, ahead of a pick-up to 0.2-percent growth this year. Joblessness stood at 9.4 percent in December. But Zeman came under scrutiny for alleged corruption over his links to former Communist apparatchik Miroslav Slouf, suspected of close ties with the mafia. With limited powers, Czech presidents were elected by parliament until lawmakers approved the switch to popular universal suffrage in February 2012 to boost the legitimacy of the office. The Czech CTK news agency reported turnout Friday was similar to round one of the election, which saw 60 percent of eligible voters cast their ballots over two days.