The public last saw President Miloš Zeman on September 1 in Brno at the start of the new school year. Subsequently, the head of state was admitted to the Central Military Hospital (ÚVN) in Střešovice Prague from September 14 due to “slight fatigue and dehydration”, Zeman was released on September 22. With regards to the hospitalization, there has been much speculation about the state of the president’s health, Castle preferring the tactic of not commenting.

According to the media, however, the reason for hospitalization is more serious, Zeman must have fluid in the abdominal cavity, which is associated with liver problems.

In early October, the head of the hospital and doctor Miroslav Zavoral visited the President at Lánech Castle, where Zeman had been living for a long time, and recommended that he return to the hospital, which the President refused. This makes the speculation even stronger. The news repeatedly asked the presidential spokesman Jiří Ovčáček about the current state of health of the head of state. Ovčáček does not answer questions factually and prefers to evaluate the personality of the interviewer.

Ovčáček received one of the first questions following information from the newsroom that the president’s condition had deteriorated on the morning of Tuesday, October 5. “How is President Zeman’s current health condition?” asked the editor of Novinek.

Ovcáček’s answer arrived in no time. “You don’t need to worry. The President is looking forward to post-election negotiations,” answered the civil servant’s question. However, the editor asked what kind of health the president is currently enjoying, not what he was waiting for.

“You have received the answer. You really don’t have to worry about Mr President’s health. I understand your nervous feelings, but I hope this reassurance will calm you down. If not, drink coffee,” the speaker interrupted.

The next round of questions came on Thursday afternoon after Zavoral visited the president again in Lány and advised him to change the planned program for health reasons and not to exercise the voting option in weekend elections at the polls.

Same question from the editor. “Mr. President’s health condition is many times better than the moral condition of Czech journalists,” the spokesman replied.

Information about the actual state of health of the president Hrad refused not only to journalists, but also to politicians and the public. Ovčáček only reassured on social networks that the visit to Zavoral in Lány and the ensuing hospitalization had been planned and “no hype happened”.

He changed his rhetoric only on Friday, when he admitted to Radio Z that Zeman wasn’t doing well. “Illness can strike anyone. After being hospitalized, he needs to gain strength. We have to realize that he is 77 years old, some diseases can just appear,” said Ovčáček.

At the same time, he denied that the president, who is supposed to be a key actor in post-election negotiations, would dispel doubts about his condition by speaking publicly: “It is now important that Mr. President has sufficient power to further work. There is no need to display it. .”

There is also uncertainty about when and where the president will vote. In recent years, she has cast her ballot at the ballot box at the elementary school in Stodůlky, Prague, where she lives permanently. Novinky Ovčáček also asked that question.

“The President will vote,” Ovčáček replied again on Tuesday when asked when and where it would take place. It will be published in due course, the spokesperson added.

It wasn’t until Thursday, the day before the opening of the polling station, that Zeman’s colleagues, following a doctor’s visit and recommendation, announced that the president would vote at the castle in Lány, where he would be visited by members of the local community. Election Commission. For this, Zeman needs a voter card, which can be submitted no later than Wednesday at 4pm. Zeman had to rely on this option and apply for a license early.

When asked how long the president has had a voter card, Ovčáček again refused to give a factual answer. “This is completely unimportant, so don’t expect any answers. The important thing is that the president will vote,” he wrote.

The evasive answer from Ovcáček’s spokesman was a sort of green, but the question remains whether the state of health of the president of the republic should also be communicated in this way. Some people believe they should know the condition of the top constitutional figure and the commander-in-chief of the Czech Republic’s armed forces, who will also have a significant say in post-election negotiations over forming a government.

On the other hand are those who include, for example, the Speaker of the House of Representatives for ANO Radek Vondráček or the Deputy Prime Minister and the head of the SSD Jan Hamáček, who claims that the state of health is a private matter even for the President of the Republic, and therefore it is up to him alone to provide information. about it, or not.

Zeman was supposed to appear on CNN’s Prima News talk show on Sunday, but that’s not going to happen. Ovčáček has not ruled out canceling Sunday’s post-election meeting with Prime Minister Andrej Babi (ANO), which was originally expected even after the program change.

On Friday afternoon, Jiří Ovčáček published three official photos of his chosen head of state on his Twitter.