populist right ''Czech Trump" Andrej Babis leads in polls for next president | Eastern North Carolina Now

Czech billionaire and former Prime Minister Andrej Babis, who has been dubbed the "Czech Trump" for his populist / nationalist policies leads in polls for January's Czech presidential election.  Babis leads the ANO party, which made major gains this year in Czech local elections.  ANO means "yes" in the Czech language and is the abbreviation of the party's full name "Action of Discontented Citizens".  Babis is a close ally of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

Running second is Petr Pavel, former Chief of Staff of the Czech army, and candidate of the traditional conservative Civic Democrats.  The other major contender is Danuse Nerudova, head of a university think tank on taxation and running as an independent and she is close behind Pavel. Nine parties or independents have qualified candidates and the top two from the first round will face each other in a runoff. 

https://europeanconservative.com/articles/news/presidential-election-in-czech-republic-to-be-held-in-january-2023/

The current president of the Czech Republic, Milos Zeman, who is term limited, has been very outspoken on conservative positions, as has his predecessor, Dr. Vaclav Klaus.  Zeman had once been a Social Democrat but ran for president as an independent.  Klaus was from the conservative Civic Democrats.  Zeman has been particularly outspoken against illegal immigration saying Europe was facing an invasion from the illegal aliens and needed to respond to it in the same manner as any other invasion. He has also been highly critical of the EU's energy policies and a major supporter of gun rights.  Klaus is best known for his opposition to climate alarmism which he calls "a budding totalitarian ideology that is the greatest threat to freedom, democracy, and prosperity in the world today."

Polls also show that Czechs do not trust their current prime minister and government, which is headed by the Civic Democrats.