Dienstbier wins Social Democrat nomination for president

The Social Democratic Party has officially nominated Senator Jiří Dienstbier for the post of president. The party deputy chair was the sole candidate for the presidential race after the withdrawal of economist Jan Švejnar. Senator Dienstbier received support from 107 members of the party’s executive committee, while 35 voted against his nomination. Paradoxically, some party members would prefer to support former party leader Milos Zeman who left the Social Democrats in 2007 and is now a presidential nominee for the Party of Civic Rights which he founded in 2009.