Czech presidential election: Babiš likens rival to Putin after first-round defeat

Ex-PM ratchets up rhetoric after surprise loss to former army chief and Nato military chair Gen Petr Pavel

The former Czech Republic prime minister Andrej Babiš has set the scene for a bitter presidential election showdown dominated by rows over the country’s communist past by comparing his rival to Vladimir Putin after a surprise first-round poll defeat.

Final tallies after polls closed on Saturday showed Babiš finishing a close second to Gen Petr Pavel, a former army chief of staff and Nato military chair, propelling the pair into a head-to-head ballot on 27-28 January for the right to succeed Miloš Zeman as Czech president.