After five years, we will once again receive a presidential campaign under the Christmas tree, and a few days after the Feast of the Three Kings, the presidential elections. More than two thousand years ago, people in a time we now call the pre-Christmas season were waiting for a savior who has not yet arrived. We can only hope that the election of a new president will push us forward at least a little. The fresh head of state will face some of the greatest challenges since November 1989 and the subsequent December elections of Vaclav Havel. Back then, we woke up to the free world of the 1990s, full of opportunities for successful development. We experienced turbulent, turbulent years and a financial collapse, but now we are once again dealing with the consequences of the pandemic, and a fratricidal war rages near our borders. Despite all of this, I try to see the future positively and believe that the next head of state can bring not only statesmanlike qualities but also a bit of optimism.
The new president will now face many tasks, much like a leader who should unite the inhabitants of our country in difficult times. The head of state may not be an all-powerful figure, but with their informal power, derived from the votes of a large portion of the population, they have the ability to initiate processes that can change legislation, the economy, and the atmosphere in the society.
Thanks to a project I have been working on in recent months, focusing on the selection of a new head of state, I had the opportunity to personally meet most of the candidates for the presidential seat. Regardless of what I may think of them individually, one thing I sincerely admire about them is their courage and determination to enter the ruthless battle for the presidential office. Certainly, some candidates are driven to pursue their desired goal primarily by naivety, inexperience, or perhaps an exaggerated sense of their exceptionalism. However, among them are those who have well-organized thoughts and a clear vision of the role of the highest constitutional office. Another positive development is the greater number of women who have entered the competition, and I am pleased that they are not just candidates for the sake of numbers, but can significantly influence the election results in at least one case.
In a challenging economic situation, children often suffer. They do not have the right to vote, yet their childhood, adolescence, and future adult life or old age are significantly influenced by every election in which they do not participate. The same goes for the presidential election. Therefore, several months ago, I decided to approach candidates for the highest constitutional office, who were known or considering a candidacy at that time, with questions from children for our book, which we are publishing now in connection with the presidential elections. I must admit that in addition to giving children the opportunity to express their ideas about the functioning of the presidential office through these questions, there is also a bit of calculation or rather an attempt to draw the candidates’ attention to the fact that children in our country make up a substantial part of society that should be taken seriously. I am glad that most of those contacted embraced our project with enthusiasm and provided honest answers, despite the enormous demands associated with the presidential campaign or their other public activities or employment. Thanks to this, you can now get an idea of how individual candidates approach the questions of our young fellow citizens, who may not have the right to vote but may one day become new leaders, businessmen/businesswomen, doctors, or teachers, in addition to being voters.
What do the presidential candidates think about adopting the euro or Islam? How will they address the situation when a mother needs two jobs to support her family? And is it true that Czechoslovakia was the most developed country in the world? I am pleased that Danuše Nerudova, Denisa Rohanova, Alena Vitaskova, Andrej Babis, Jaroslav Basta, Tomáš Brezina, Pavel Fischer, Karel Janecek, Milos Knor, Ivo Mares, Martin Stropnicky, Josef Stredula, and Tomas Zima are part of my book project. They also participated in discussions about their views and election-related topics that we organized as part of the project.
In interviews with these personalities, we tried to find answers to three key questions: What will our future be like? Can our country speak a common language? Will we be able to be a fair and compassionate society that not only offers opportunities to the most capable but also lends a helping hand to those who did not have as much luck in starting their lives?
I believe that we have succeeded in putting together a mosaic of interesting questions and answers that provide a good picture of the situation in the current presidential election and the problems that the winner should address, at least according to the children. I hope that the person who ultimately wins will not only stick to what they answered in the book’s questions but will also find time to be inspired by the answers of other candidates who came behind them.
Ivana Tykač,
