Štěch at Zeman's service

Figuring out the exact deadlines for the presidential election is rather complicated, due to the way the laws are written, and one of our well-informed readers said that we made a mistake on Tues. The second round of the election must come at least 30 days before Miloš Zeman's term expires on March 7, the reader explained, and this means that candidates will need to submit their signed petitions by either Nov. 7 or Nov. 14 at the latest (not Nov. 28, in the second case). The exact date depends on when Senate Pres. Milan Štěch of ČSSD sets the election schedule. He only has two choices for the first round, Jan. 12-13 or Jan. 19-20. Until he makes his announcement, the candidates will be free to be nontransparent about their campaign spending. This applies mainly to Zeman, whose re-election costs are being covered so far by Martin Nejedlý and the SPO party. The longer Štěch dallies, the longer Zeman will be be able to pretend that he isn't running a presidential campaign.