These days have been quite eventful for the Czech Republic. Not only did – now the former president – Vaclav Klaus declare unexpected (and quite unwelcomed) amnesty during his last New Year’s speech but the citizens are in the process of electing a new Czech president.
It is not just an ordinary elections, however. For the last twenty years the presidents were chosen by the country’s parliament but this year the citizens will be voting directly.
There are 9 presidential candidates and cover a broad spectrum of political ideas as well as appearances. Perhaps the most radical of all is Vladimir Franz, a university teacher, a painter and a composer, who is covered with blue tattoos literarily from head to toe (see image above). I mean, I am speechless; only in the Czech Republic, right?
The favorites in this presidential run are 2 former Czech prime ministers, Milos Zeman and Jan Fisher, whose father survived Auschwitz.
The elections started today at 2pm . Even us, Czechs living abroad, are able to vote at our local embassies but I personally chose not to vote since I don’t feel like I am knowledgeable enough to participate. Perhaps next time. Although if Mr. Blueman wins I will never be able to forgive myself ;).
CZ: Cesi prochazeji opravdu velmi dobrodruznym obdobim. Nejdriv Vaclav Klaus ve svem poslednim novorocnim proslovu neocekavane oznamil amnestii a dnes ve 14 hodin zacali poprve v ceske historii volit sveho noveho prezidenta sami obcane!
Vyber kandidatu zabira opravdu pestrou paletu jak nazoru, tak vzhledu. A samozrejme ze vite, kam tim mirim……Vladimir Franz…co to je????? Opravdu jen v Ceske Republice se muze neco takoveho stat.
Source:
http://www.voanews.com/content/czechs-vote-in-first-direct-presidential-election/1582056.html
http://www.novinky.cz/domaci/289980-on-line-reportaz-o-volbu-prezidenta-je-obrovsky-zajem.html
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Vladimír Franz is a smart man. He graduated from law school, is a very succescul, appraised composer and a painter, also a professor (a title you can get only after several years of hard work and many achievements). Maybe we in Czech are not so superficial. He has tattos? Yes, he’s a bit eccentric. Well, more important are his skills and personality. He was persuaded to participate in the president election by a huge iniciative of the young people. In several debates he showed that he is not very familiar with government processes and he is not a strong debater, though. He will probably not make it to the second round.
He may be smart and wonderful but as a president he would just not be taken seriously. If not by the Czechs then by the whole world. As a president you have to represent the country and not show how eccentric you can be.
That he wouldn’t be taken seriously never crossed my mind. I don’t think it’s always tied with an eccentric look. If someone looks different, does it mean his opinions doesn’t matter are irrelevant or are certainly bad? But even though I don’t agree with you, you may be right about most other people’s perspective.
That’s what I mean, I myself may take him seriously (after a wave of shock and fear;) after a while but most people would not. Still it’s a shame, the look just takes away from his smartness – it distracts people. Because he is VERY different and VERY unusual looking it make people concentrate on his looks instead of listening to what he is saying.
PS: Let’s not forget that he did all those tattoos to himself (or someone else). If it was a deformity that he was born with people would get used to it. But the fact that those are tattoos make people think “what the heck is wrong with this guy?”
Well, many Czechs didn’t ask themselves “What’s wrong with that guy?” – those who wanted him to participate in the election and who voted for him. It makes me feel pretty proud of Czechs, for their tolerance.
Czechs will have the first blue president.. I don’t think that even if 100% of blue population will vote for him, he has any chance to win.
Vlastimil, Vladimír Franz make it to the 5th place (6,84 % of votes) out of 9 people in the first round. So, he didn’t make it to the second round (where the first two, Miloš Zeman and Karel Schwarzenberg, are now).
Za 1. se jmenuje Vladimír a za 2. mě velmi zarazily narážky na jeho vzhled. Nebo spíše zklamaly. Ale co se dá čekat od někoho, kdo ani netuší jak se tento inteligentní pán jmenuje, že… 🙂
Zdenko, uz jsem to opravila. To vis, dva Vaclavove na hrade v rade, to se potom tezko oducuje…
Nicmene mne trosku mrzi tvoje jizlive poznamky, ktere opravdu nejsou za potrebi. Jestli prave tito jizlive typy voli oneho Vladimira, tak potez panbuh.
Diky takovym lidem jako Zdenka tady uz ani nepisu, nastesti jsem nebyl predmetem utoku ja a to me tesi 😉