An Ipsos poll on Fri. gave Andrej Babiš 31.7% in the first round of presidential elections, followed by Petr Pavel at 23.8%. No great surprise there. More interesting was that Danuše Nerudová moved up to No. 3, with 10.8%, and that Josef Středula (5.4%) was behind not only Nerudová, but also Marek Hilšer (7.5%) and Pavel Fischer (6.5%). Next in line was Miloš Vystrčil of ODS at 4.8%. His inclusion is actually the most interesting aspect of the poll from the standpoint of free and fair elections. He had the chance yesterday on TV Prima to state clearly whether he intends to run, but he waffled. This wouldn’t matter if he were anyone else, but he is president of the Senate. In announcing the dates of presidential elections on June 27, he said that he accelerated his decision because of the campaign-like activities of certain potential candidates. By acting in his official capacity in a way that could benefit his own future candidacy, he lost the moral right to run for the position.

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