Three frontrunners as Czechs vote for new president

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Polling ended Saturday in the first round of the Czech presidential election with a billionaire, a general, and an academic vying for spots in a likely run-off later this month.    

The winner will replace Milos Zeman, an outspoken and divisive political veteran, and will have to face record inflation as well as bulging public finance deficits related to the war in Ukraine.    

Read: Czech protesters demand new government, direct gas talks with Russia

Results of the first-round pitting eight candidates are expected around 1600 GMT on Saturday.  

The two top-placed rivals will go head-to-head in a second round on January 27-28, unless a candidate wins more than 50% outright, which is unlikely.

Populist ex-prime minister Andrej Babis, retired general Petr Pavel and university professor Danuse Nerudova are competing for the fourth president since the Czech Republic was founded in 1993.

Casting her ballot, Alina Kravchuk, a Ukrainian resident of Prague, said the new president should be above all "honest and unimpeachable", adding that the new leader should promote help for Ukraine just like the Czech government.

"We're Slavic nations, we are close to each other and as close nations we should help each other in these difficult times," Kravchuk told AFP.    

Former PM Babis is the fifth wealthiest person in the Czech Republic, according to Forbes magazine.    

Pavel is a former paratrooper who was decorated as a hero of the Serbo-Croatian war, and he became the chief of the Czech general staff and chair of NATO's military committee.  

Nerudova focuses on social issues and is largely depending on younger voters.