The eccentric Czech composer Vladimír Franz officially registered Monday as the 10th candidate in the upcoming presidential elections. Franz, a painter and composer with tattoos covering 90 percent of his body, succeeded in collecting 88,400 signatures in his bid for the presidency, a number far exceeding the 50,000 needed to become a candidate.
Tomio Okamura, the Czech tourism businessman and senator, will submit his candidate papers Wednesday. Additional candidates include Social Democrat Jiří Dienstbier, the former prime minister and Social Democrat Miloš Zeman, the former interim prime minister Jan Fischer, the former economy minister Vladimír Dlouhý and Christian Democrat MP Zuzana Roithová. The first direct presidential elections are set to take place on Jan. 11-12.
