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Czech election: Zeman leads Schwarzenberg in poll Czech election: Milos Zeman wins presidential poll
(35 minutes later)
Former PM Milos Zeman is leading the Czech Republic's presidential election, with 60% of votes counted. Former PM Milos Zeman has won the Czech Republic's presidential election - the first time the position has been decided by direct popular vote.
He was ahead of Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg by 57% to 43% in the second-round poll. He won 55% of votes in the second-round poll, compared to Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg's 45%.
The election is the first time the presidency has been decided by direct popular vote. Voters had braved freezing conditions to turn out in what was being seen as a nail-bitingly close poll.
Before polls closed at 13:00 GMT, people braved freezing conditions to vote in what was being seen as a nail-bitingly close poll. Mr Zeman is seen as a hard-drinking, chain-smoking politician, known for his witty put-downs of opponents.
The former prime minister gained 24.2% in the first round, with Mr Schwarzenberg winning 23.4%. As president, he will represent the Czech Republic abroad and appoint candidates to the constitutional court and the central bank, but the post does not carry much day-to-day power.
"It'll be very tight," Mr Schwarzenberg said after casting his ballot in the small village of Sykorice, south-west of Prague. Mr Zeman will replace the eurosceptic Vaclav Klaus, who steps down in March after ten years in office.
"I'm not nervous, far from it, I'm calm, we'll see," he added. Both presidential candidates support deeper integration of the European Union.
Mr Zeman said he had said all he wanted to say. Mr Zeman won 24.2% in the first round poll, with Mr Schwarzenberg winning 23.4%.
"Now it's the turn of citizens," he added. The BBC's Rob Cameron in Prague says that though Czechs are generally disillusioned with politics, they turned out in droves to choose between the two very different candidates - Mr Zeman, the acerbic former Social Democrat prime minister, and Karel Schwarzenberg, the elderly, aristocratic foreign minister.
Different candidates The defeated candidate is a titled prince, 75 years old but wildly popularly amongst young, urban voters, our correspondent says.
The BBC's Rob Cameron in Prague says that though Czechs are generally disillusioned with politics, they have been turning out in droves to chose the two very different candidates - Mr Zeman, the acerbic former Social Democrat prime minister, and Karel Schwarzenberg, the elderly, aristocratic foreign minister. In the early 1990s, he worked as chancellor to the President Vaclav Havel, the leader of the Velvet Revolution that brought down Communist rule in 1989.
Mr Zeman is a hard-drinking, chain-smoking politician, known for his witty put-downs of his political opponents while Mr Schwarzenberg is a titled prince, 75 years old but wildly popularly amongst young, urban voters, our correspondent says.
In the early 1990s, Mr Schwarzenberg worked as chancellor to the President Vaclav Havel, the leader of the Velvet Revolution that brought down Communist rule in 1989.
The new president will represent the Czech Republic abroad and appoint candidates to the constitutional court and the central bank, but does not carry much day-to-day power.