Czech President Petr Pavel has not ruled out trying to defend his post in the next presidential elections due in early 2028, in an interview with Czech Television yesterday marking the end of his first year in office.
Pavel said he will decide on whether to run depending on the political and social situation and how he will manage to fulfil his priorities.
“A priori, of course, one should not rule out anything,” Pavel said when asked if he ruled out running again.
He said the support of his wife would be crucial. He also said that the frequency of his activities shows that he is sparing no effort for a second term.
At a January meeting with citizens in Stribro in the Plzen Region, Pavel indicated that he was not interested in defending his mandate. “I believe that one five-year mandate, if one does it to the full, is enough,” he told Novinky.cz, adding that he had no desire to repeat his pre-election time.
Pavel, 62, a former chief of the Czech army’s general staff and former chairman of the NATO Military Committee, defeated former Prime Minister Andrej Babis (ANO) in the second round of the presidential election in late January 2023 and was inaugurated as president on 9 March 2023.
