Petr Pavel, former chair of the NATO Military Committee, ran as an independent on a pro-Western, pro-European platform,[1] and was one of three candidates backed by the centre-right governing alliance Spolu.

[2] He won the first round of the election with 35.40% of the popular vote, ahead of Andrej Babiš, the former Czech prime minister running as the candidate of ANO, who finished second with 34.99%.

[3] Babiš had expressed opposition to Czech support for Ukraine after the Russian invasion and was characterised in the media as using populist rhetoric.

[4][5] For the runoff, Pavel was backed by most eliminated candidates and by the incumbent prime minister Petr Fiala, while Babiš received an endorsement from the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia[6] and the outgoing president Zeman.

The outcome of the election was viewed as a sign of support for the West in the context of the War in Ukraine,[12] and is expected to strengthen Czech ties with the European Union and the United States.

Political scientist Ladislav Cabada said that he expected the new president to be younger than Miloš Zeman when he was elected in 2013.

[14] There was also speculation that ANO 2011 leader Andrej Babiš, who later became Prime Minister of the Czech Republic, might run for president in 2023.

[17][18] Speculation about possible successors to Zeman started soon after the election, with bookmakers considering Václav Klaus Jr. as the favourite.

The Czech Social Democratic Party was also invited to the meeting but declined as it planned to support Josef Středula, the president of the Bohemian-Moravian Confederation of Trade Unions.

[29] The 2021 legislative election resulted in defeat for ANO 2011 and a majority for the opposition parties in the Chamber of Deputies.

[30][31] Following the election on 10 October, Zeman was hospitalised again, casting doubts over how and when the government formation talks would be held.

[35] On 18 October 2021, Miloš Vystrčil, the president of the Senate of the Czech Republic, announced he had received a letter from the Central Military Hospital declaring Zeman unfit to fulfil his duties as the president, and indicated plans to trigger Article 66 of the constitution to temporarily remove Zeman from office.

[36] In response, the Senate announced their intention to transfer Zeman's constitutional powers to Babiš and the speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Radek Vondráček, also of ANO 2011.

[40] To qualify for the ballot, a candidate had to gather 50,000 signatures from citizens or the support of twenty deputies or ten senators.

[110] Janeček, a billionaire entrepreneur and anti-corruption activist, announced his candidacy on 21 January 2022, launching his campaign with the slogan "This is Us."

Pavel stated that he wanted to win the election so that the Czech Republic would not have to feel ashamed by its president.

[126] Pavel officially announced his candidacy on 6 September 2022 when he launched his campaign, with the slogan "Let's bring order and peace back to the Czech Republic".

[138] On 12 October 2022 it was reported that Cyril Svoboda, former leader of KDU-ČSL, had started gathering signatures in the Senate to allow him to run.

Nerudová noted that Babiš had been unable to find a better candidate than himself and decided to run despite forecasts not giving him much chance.

[147] Several candidates for president support LGBT rights such as same-sex marriage and adoptions including: Danuše Nerudová, Petr Pavel, Marek Hilšer, and Josef Středula.

[148] During the presidential election campaign, Fischer expressed his support for the right to keep and bear arms, stating that he considered it "correct for adult citizens to have the basic ability to handle firearms, to know how to make them safe or check that they are unloaded".

[149] Babiš's prospects in the election were said to have improved at the beginning of January 2023, after he was cleared by the Municipal Court in Prague in an alleged fraud case involving misuse of EU subsidies.

[151] He organised rallies in Ústí nad Labem, Ostrava, Brno and Prague, which were attended by thousands of people.

[155] Before the second round election, Pavel became the target of several false claims online, including rumours of his death.

[160] Babiš's statement during a debate questioning Czech assistance to NATO allies triggered strong criticism from governments of several NATO countries, notably Poland and of the Baltic states,[154] and prompted Pavel to pledge that if elected he would visit Poland to reassure it that the Czech Republic would provide military support for its allies if they were attacked.

Petr Pavel, former chair of the NATO Military Committee, ran as an independent with the endorsement of the governing alliance SPOLU.

Outgoing president Miloš Zeman expressed surprise at the scale of Pavel's victory, and stated that Babiš "should not be written off prematurely".

Ivan Bartoš, the leader of the Czech Pirate Party, called upon Babiš to apologise for what he described as his "dishonest" campaign.

[197] On 3 February 2023 Karel Janeček submitted a complaint to the Supreme Administrative Court over the presidential election process.