Czech presidential election, 2008
Encyclopedia
Elections of the President of the Czech Republic
by the Parliament of the Czech Republic
were held on Friday 8 February and Saturday 9 February 2008, to select a successor to incumbent Václav Klaus
' for a five-year term beginning on 7 March 2008. The candidates standing for election were Klaus and University of Michigan Professor Jan Švejnar
.
When no winner emerged on the first ballot, another ballot was held on 15 February 2008, barely re-electing Klaus to a second term. The election was marked by party splits and post-Cold War rancor, Germany's Deutsche Welle reported. He signed his presidential pledge with a platinum-plated pen allegedly worth up to 1 million koruna (about US$61,300). A Czech company had donated the pen, one of a limited edition of 10, to Klaus, who promised he would exercise his powers cautiously and conservatively during his second term.
The differences of the 2008 election against the earlier ones were:
In the 2008 election, the President came of the 3rd round of the second election, in 2003 it took one election more.
, a US-based economist originally from the Czech Republic, stated he would announce in early December whether he will run against Klaus, with the support of former president Václav Havel
, the Czech Social Democratic Party
and the Green Party
, as well as the caucuses of Association of Independent Lists (SNK) and the Open Democracy in the Senate of the Czech Republic
which unite independent and liberal Senators from a range of small parties. The Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia
was considering supporting him, as well. Christian and Democratic Union – Czechoslovak People's Party (KDU–ČSL) were unable to unite on a candidate, and remained undecided even after holding talks with Klaus, but they support (together with the ČSSD and the Green Party) a constitutional amendment to have direct presidential elections instead (though such an amendment would only apply from the next election in 2013 onwards). Most analysts assumed that Klaus would win re-election.
The KSČM was to decide on 7 December 2007 whether to support Švejnar, and the ČSSD required substantial cross-party support by 8 December 2007 to turn their conditional support for him into definite support. However, the KSČM interrupted the discussions supporting Švejnar on 7 December 2007, wanting reassurances from the ČSSD that they would indeed support Švejnar, fearing that their support for Švejnar might be moot if the ČSSD was not united on this. Both Klaus and Švejnar are vied for the support of the KDU–ČSL. Švejnar announced on 8 December 2007 that his bid was still alive and that he would decide whether to run in the coming week, depending on the level of support from major parties. On 11 December 2007 the press stated that he had acquired the support of five analysts and experts to assist him in his bid for the presidency. Švejnar himself announced that he would decide on whether he'd run only in the week afterwards, as political parties were still holding talks to decide on whether to support him.
The KSČM has stated that they have set five conditions necessary for them to support a candidate in the election, and that both of the candidates fulfil some of the conditions; however, they stated that Švejnar should renounce his US citizenship. Švejnar later stated he would renounce his US citizenship if elected.
The ČSSD announced their official support for Švejnar on 15 December 2007.
As the president is elected by an absolute majority of MPs and senators, Klaus only needs 19 votes from other parties to win re-election.
In a mid-December public opinion poll, Švejnar gained in popularity and was tied with Klaus.
While it was not considered certain whether Švejnar even wanted to run, a serious and emotional debate over who contributed more to the economic reforms at the start of the 1990s between Klaus and Švejnar was read by analysts as a sign that Švejnar did indeed want to run for the office. By 12 December 2007, he had gathered the necessary ten signatures from MPs or senators required to run for president; among the lawmakers nominating him were Senate deputy chairman Petr Pithart
from KDU–ČSL, head of the ČSSD senators' group Alena Gajdušková and Soňa Paukertová, head of the Caucus of Open Democracy
in the Senate.
Švejnar proposed a public debate with Klaus, but Klaus rejected on the grounds that Klaus did not need the publicity and that it would only help Švejnar; the ČSSD strongly criticised Klaus' decision. According to polls, 43% prefer Klaus as president, while 28% would prefer Švejnar and 29% are undecided.
The former foreign minister Jiří Dienstbier
had also been suggested by some Social Democrats and Communists as a possible anti-Klaus candidate.
ČSSD reportedly considering different options to ensure that none of their MPs vote for Klaus against the party line: to have an open ballot, to have voting done by two MPs at a time or to have the MPs make photos with their mobile phones as proof of their vote.
Former president Václav Havel
officially announced his support for Švejnar on 1 January 2008.
There are rumours that KDU–ČSL are offering full support to Klaus in exchange for Jiří Čunek
becoming a government minister again. Foreign minister Karel Schwarzenberg
has unequivocally stated he will resign if Čunek enters the government again after his resignation in late 2007, and the Greens have also stated they are against this.
KSČM is almost certain to support Švejnar in the first round, to ensure that Klaus is not the only candidate who passes to the second round, but it has not officially decided on whom to support in later rounds.
According to polls from early January 2008, in a direct election Švejnar would beat Klaus with 52% to 48%. Polls from late January 2008 saw Švejnar increase his lead to 55% against Klaus' 45%.
According to questions asked by the newspaper Mladá fronta Dnes
, Klaus and Švejnar differ mostly on two points: Švejnar is in favor of introducing the Euro as quickly as possible and in favor of introducing direct presidential elections, while Klaus is against both. Both candidates also differ in the views on the economic transformation of the country after the Velvet Revolution
and on the environmental issues. Klaus believes global warming
is a hype, when Švejnar insists it is a dangerous threat to our planet.
All parties except for ODS agreed that the vote should be held publicly by acclamation (which they have the majority to decide in the lower house), threatening a blocking of the third round of the joint sitting can not agree on the election method in the third round. More than two thirds of Czechs favor public elections.
KSČM was not fully decided whether to support Švejnar or not, while about half of the 26 deputies and 3 senators favored Klaus and Švejnar.
Three well-known Czech political analysts rated the chances of Klaus and Švejnar at 60–40, 70–30 and 95-5, respectively.
Prior to the third round of the elections, three lawmakers left the joint session due to health issues: ČSSD deputy Evžen Snítilý and KDU-ČSL senators Josef Kalbáč and Karel Barták. Snítilý was thought to be in favour of Švejnar but supported Klaus in the second election of 15 February and was later expelled from the Social Democrat group, while both Kalbáč and Barták were in favour of Klaus. The third round also failed to produce a winner; the Communists abstained instead of voting for Švejnar, but Klaus fell one vote short of a majority of 140 of the 278 lawmakers present.
and former TV anchorwoman Jana Bobošíková
. She is known as an outspoken critic of the EU and of the planned US missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic.
Two independent senators who had voted for Klaus, Liana Janáčková and Jana Juřenčáková, stated they had been threatened, and the ČSSD senator Evžen Snítilý who left the session in the third round of the first attempt, stated he wanted to leave the party (an was soon expelled). Reportedly, Snítilý suffered from threats and blackmail over his StB
past.
The three nominees were Švejnar, Klaus and Bobošíková. Bobošíková was nominated by 17 KSČM deputies, but the Communists stated they would be inclined to support Švejnar under certain conditions.
Klaus' chances to be reelected were boosted when Snítilý announced he would vote for Klaus prior to the session. Surprisingly, in his address on 15 February 2008 before the joint session of parliament, Klaus stated he supported holding the presidential elections as public ballots and not as secret ballots as he demanded before. Klaus also delivered a significantly more nationalistic and euroskeptical speech than the week previously. This was taken as an indication that he knew he had the votes to win and no longer needed to moderate his feelings.
Bobošíková withdrew her candidacy shortly after the debate and before the first round of voting citing a lack of support for her, boosting Švejnar's chances. The Communists then announced they would employ the same tactic as in the first attempt: They will support Švejnar in the first and second rounds, but abstain in the third round, thus trying to make the second attempt at electing a president a failure, as well.
After more debate on the method of voting, the ODS accepted holding the vote with public ballots again. Green MP Olga Zubová was absent from the session due to a surgical intervention she had some time ago.
In the first round of voting, Klaus received 141 votes, just enough for his reelection in the third round. The second round saw similar results, but also a drop in support for Švejnar by the Communists. Prior to the third round, it was reported that Minister for Human Rights and Minorities Džamila Stehlíková
from the Greens was at the missing MP Zubová's residence, likely trying to get her to show up for the third round to improve Švejnar's chances.
In the third round Klaus was re-elected as President of the Czech Republic.
In his acceptance speech Klaus talked of wanting to be 'President of all Czechs' and his staff spend the following days trying to convey the idea of a nation happy with the outcome. In reality, the fact that his re-election depended on 3 Social Democrats who left their party in deeply suspicious circumstances has thrown a large cloud over what he had hoped would be more a coronation than a re-election.
President of the Czech Republic
The President of the Czech Republic is the head of state of the Czech Republic. Unlike his counterparts in Austria and Hungary, who are generally considered figureheads, the Czech President has a considerable role in political affairs...
by the Parliament of the Czech Republic
Parliament of the Czech Republic
The Parliament of the Czech Republic is the legislative body of the Czech Republic, based in Prague. It consists of two chambers, both elected in direct elections:* the Lower House: Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic...
were held on Friday 8 February and Saturday 9 February 2008, to select a successor to incumbent Václav Klaus
Václav Klaus
Václav Klaus is the second President of the Czech Republic and a former Prime Minister .An economist, he is co-founder of the Civic Democratic Party, the Czech Republic's largest center-right political party. Klaus is a eurosceptic, but he reluctantly endorsed the Lisbon treaty as president of...
' for a five-year term beginning on 7 March 2008. The candidates standing for election were Klaus and University of Michigan Professor Jan Švejnar
Jan Švejnar
Jan Švejnar is a USA-based, Czech-born economist. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the 2008 election of the President of the Czech Republic....
.
When no winner emerged on the first ballot, another ballot was held on 15 February 2008, barely re-electing Klaus to a second term. The election was marked by party splits and post-Cold War rancor, Germany's Deutsche Welle reported. He signed his presidential pledge with a platinum-plated pen allegedly worth up to 1 million koruna (about US$61,300). A Czech company had donated the pen, one of a limited edition of 10, to Klaus, who promised he would exercise his powers cautiously and conservatively during his second term.
The electoral process
Each ballot can be composed of three rounds with gradually relaxing requirements for election.The differences of the 2008 election against the earlier ones were:
- Compared to 2003, the balance of power between both chambers switched: Klaus's party had an absolute majority in the Senate, cemented by pro-Klaus senators from smaller parties.
- For the first time there were only two candidates, so no elimination between first and second round.
- Due to absences of MPs, the quorum for election was decreased 140.
In the 2008 election, the President came of the 3rd round of the second election, in 2003 it took one election more.
Political environment of the 2008 election
Klaus was nominated for the second term by the 122 MPs and senators belonging to his Civic Democratic Party on 28 November 2007. Jan ŠvejnarJan Švejnar
Jan Švejnar is a USA-based, Czech-born economist. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the 2008 election of the President of the Czech Republic....
, a US-based economist originally from the Czech Republic, stated he would announce in early December whether he will run against Klaus, with the support of former president Václav Havel
Václav Havel
Václav Havel is a Czech playwright, essayist, poet, dissident and politician. He was the tenth and last President of Czechoslovakia and the first President of the Czech Republic . He has written over twenty plays and numerous non-fiction works, translated internationally...
, the Czech Social Democratic Party
Czech Social Democratic Party
The Czech Social Democratic Party is a social-democratic political party in the Czech Republic.-History:The Social Democratic Czechoslavonic party in Austria was founded on 7 April 1878 in Austria-Hungary representing the Kingdom of Bohemia in the Austrian parliament...
and the Green Party
Green Party (Czech Republic)
The Green Party is a political party in the Czech Republic.The party was founded in February 1990 but for a long time it struggled to obtain significant influence in Czech politics. In the 2002 legislative election the party received 2.4% of the vote...
, as well as the caucuses of Association of Independent Lists (SNK) and the Open Democracy in the Senate of the Czech Republic
Senate of the Czech Republic
The Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic , usually referred to as Senát, is the upper chamber of the Parliament of the Czech Republic...
which unite independent and liberal Senators from a range of small parties. The Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia
Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia
The Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia , abbreviated to KSČM, is a political party in the Czech Republic. It has a membership of 82,994 and is a member party of the European United Left - Nordic Green Left bloc in the European Parliament...
was considering supporting him, as well. Christian and Democratic Union – Czechoslovak People's Party (KDU–ČSL) were unable to unite on a candidate, and remained undecided even after holding talks with Klaus, but they support (together with the ČSSD and the Green Party) a constitutional amendment to have direct presidential elections instead (though such an amendment would only apply from the next election in 2013 onwards). Most analysts assumed that Klaus would win re-election.
The KSČM was to decide on 7 December 2007 whether to support Švejnar, and the ČSSD required substantial cross-party support by 8 December 2007 to turn their conditional support for him into definite support. However, the KSČM interrupted the discussions supporting Švejnar on 7 December 2007, wanting reassurances from the ČSSD that they would indeed support Švejnar, fearing that their support for Švejnar might be moot if the ČSSD was not united on this. Both Klaus and Švejnar are vied for the support of the KDU–ČSL. Švejnar announced on 8 December 2007 that his bid was still alive and that he would decide whether to run in the coming week, depending on the level of support from major parties. On 11 December 2007 the press stated that he had acquired the support of five analysts and experts to assist him in his bid for the presidency. Švejnar himself announced that he would decide on whether he'd run only in the week afterwards, as political parties were still holding talks to decide on whether to support him.
The KSČM has stated that they have set five conditions necessary for them to support a candidate in the election, and that both of the candidates fulfil some of the conditions; however, they stated that Švejnar should renounce his US citizenship. Švejnar later stated he would renounce his US citizenship if elected.
The ČSSD announced their official support for Švejnar on 15 December 2007.
As the president is elected by an absolute majority of MPs and senators, Klaus only needs 19 votes from other parties to win re-election.
In a mid-December public opinion poll, Švejnar gained in popularity and was tied with Klaus.
While it was not considered certain whether Švejnar even wanted to run, a serious and emotional debate over who contributed more to the economic reforms at the start of the 1990s between Klaus and Švejnar was read by analysts as a sign that Švejnar did indeed want to run for the office. By 12 December 2007, he had gathered the necessary ten signatures from MPs or senators required to run for president; among the lawmakers nominating him were Senate deputy chairman Petr Pithart
Petr Pithart
Petr Pithart is a Czech politician, lawyer and political scientist.He served as Prime Minister of the Czech Republic from February 6, 1990 to July 2, 1992...
from KDU–ČSL, head of the ČSSD senators' group Alena Gajdušková and Soňa Paukertová, head of the Caucus of Open Democracy
Caucus of Open Democracy
Caucus of Open Democracy is a liberal parliamentary group in the Czech Senate.- Members :6 senators:* Civic Democratic Alliance: Karel Schwarzenberg, Foreign minister, a senator elected in 2004* Green Party: Jaromír Štětina, a senator elected in 2004...
in the Senate.
Švejnar proposed a public debate with Klaus, but Klaus rejected on the grounds that Klaus did not need the publicity and that it would only help Švejnar; the ČSSD strongly criticised Klaus' decision. According to polls, 43% prefer Klaus as president, while 28% would prefer Švejnar and 29% are undecided.
The former foreign minister Jiří Dienstbier
Jiří Dienstbier
Jiří Dienstbier was a Czech politician and journalist. He was one of Czechoslovakia's most respected foreign correspondent before being fired after the Prague Spring. Unable to have a livelihood as a journalist, he worked as a janitor for the next two decades...
had also been suggested by some Social Democrats and Communists as a possible anti-Klaus candidate.
ČSSD reportedly considering different options to ensure that none of their MPs vote for Klaus against the party line: to have an open ballot, to have voting done by two MPs at a time or to have the MPs make photos with their mobile phones as proof of their vote.
Former president Václav Havel
Václav Havel
Václav Havel is a Czech playwright, essayist, poet, dissident and politician. He was the tenth and last President of Czechoslovakia and the first President of the Czech Republic . He has written over twenty plays and numerous non-fiction works, translated internationally...
officially announced his support for Švejnar on 1 January 2008.
There are rumours that KDU–ČSL are offering full support to Klaus in exchange for Jiří Čunek
Jirí Cunek
Jiří Čunek is a Czech politician who was chairman of the Christian and Democratic Union - Czechoslovak People's Party from December 2006 to May 2009...
becoming a government minister again. Foreign minister Karel Schwarzenberg
Karel Schwarzenberg
Karel Schwarzenberg or Karel, Prince of Schwarzenberg , 7...
has unequivocally stated he will resign if Čunek enters the government again after his resignation in late 2007, and the Greens have also stated they are against this.
KSČM is almost certain to support Švejnar in the first round, to ensure that Klaus is not the only candidate who passes to the second round, but it has not officially decided on whom to support in later rounds.
According to polls from early January 2008, in a direct election Švejnar would beat Klaus with 52% to 48%. Polls from late January 2008 saw Švejnar increase his lead to 55% against Klaus' 45%.
According to questions asked by the newspaper Mladá fronta Dnes
Mladá fronta DNES
Mladá fronta Dnes, also known as MF DNES or simply Dnes , is the second most sold daily newspaper in the Czech Republic. Its name could be translated into English as Youth Front Today...
, Klaus and Švejnar differ mostly on two points: Švejnar is in favor of introducing the Euro as quickly as possible and in favor of introducing direct presidential elections, while Klaus is against both. Both candidates also differ in the views on the economic transformation of the country after the Velvet Revolution
Velvet Revolution
The Velvet Revolution or Gentle Revolution was a non-violent revolution in Czechoslovakia that took place from November 17 – December 29, 1989...
and on the environmental issues. Klaus believes global warming
Global warming
Global warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...
is a hype, when Švejnar insists it is a dangerous threat to our planet.
All parties except for ODS agreed that the vote should be held publicly by acclamation (which they have the majority to decide in the lower house), threatening a blocking of the third round of the joint sitting can not agree on the election method in the third round. More than two thirds of Czechs favor public elections.
Candidates and party support
- Václav KlausVáclav KlausVáclav Klaus is the second President of the Czech Republic and a former Prime Minister .An economist, he is co-founder of the Civic Democratic Party, the Czech Republic's largest center-right political party. Klaus is a eurosceptic, but he reluctantly endorsed the Lisbon treaty as president of...
– supported by the Civic Democratic Party - Jan ŠvejnarJan ŠvejnarJan Švejnar is a USA-based, Czech-born economist. He was an unsuccessful candidate for the 2008 election of the President of the Czech Republic....
– supported by the Czech Social Democratic PartyCzech Social Democratic PartyThe Czech Social Democratic Party is a social-democratic political party in the Czech Republic.-History:The Social Democratic Czechoslavonic party in Austria was founded on 7 April 1878 in Austria-Hungary representing the Kingdom of Bohemia in the Austrian parliament...
, the Green PartyGreen Party (Czech Republic)The Green Party is a political party in the Czech Republic.The party was founded in February 1990 but for a long time it struggled to obtain significant influence in Czech politics. In the 2002 legislative election the party received 2.4% of the vote...
, the Caucus SNK and the Caucus of Open DemocracyCaucus of Open DemocracyCaucus of Open Democracy is a liberal parliamentary group in the Czech Senate.- Members :6 senators:* Civic Democratic Alliance: Karel Schwarzenberg, Foreign minister, a senator elected in 2004* Green Party: Jaromír Štětina, a senator elected in 2004...
KSČM was not fully decided whether to support Švejnar or not, while about half of the 26 deputies and 3 senators favored Klaus and Švejnar.
Three well-known Czech political analysts rated the chances of Klaus and Švejnar at 60–40, 70–30 and 95-5, respectively.
Voting
First attempt (8–9 February)
The joint session started on 8 February 2008 on 10:00 local time. As predicted, a lengthy debate on the election method delayed the election, but it was agreed after six hours of debate to have an open balloting. After two rounds of election, the session was adjourned at 21:00 as previously agreed and the election was postponed to 9 February 2008. The results for the second vote held on 8 February were not announced, but it is assumed that no candidate had the required majority of votes. They were then announced on 9 February 2008.Prior to the third round of the elections, three lawmakers left the joint session due to health issues: ČSSD deputy Evžen Snítilý and KDU-ČSL senators Josef Kalbáč and Karel Barták. Snítilý was thought to be in favour of Švejnar but supported Klaus in the second election of 15 February and was later expelled from the Social Democrat group, while both Kalbáč and Barták were in favour of Klaus. The third round also failed to produce a winner; the Communists abstained instead of voting for Švejnar, but Klaus fell one vote short of a majority of 140 of the 278 lawmakers present.
| Round | Václav Klaus | Jan Švejnar | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deputies Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic The Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of the Czech Republic. The seat of the Chamber of Deputies is situated in palaces in Malá Strana, Prague.... |
Senators Senate of the Czech Republic The Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic , usually referred to as Senát, is the upper chamber of the Parliament of the Czech Republic... |
Deputies Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic The Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of the Czech Republic. The seat of the Chamber of Deputies is situated in palaces in Malá Strana, Prague.... |
Senators Senate of the Czech Republic The Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic , usually referred to as Senát, is the upper chamber of the Parliament of the Czech Republic... |
|
| 1st | 92 | 47 | 106 | 32 |
| 139 | 138 | |||
| 2nd | 94 | 48 | 104 | 31 |
| 142 | 135 | |||
| 3rd | 92 | 47 | 81 | 32 |
| 139 | 113 | |||
Second attempt (15 February)
The date for the second election was set to 15 February 2008. The second election also allows for the three rounds, with the same rules as the first election and both present candidates will be running. In the second election, communist party KSČM proposed an additional candidate – MEPMember of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...
and former TV anchorwoman Jana Bobošíková
Jana Bobošíková
Jana Bobošíková is a Czech politician and former Member of the European Parliament and was Non-Inscrit in the European Parliament....
. She is known as an outspoken critic of the EU and of the planned US missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic.
Two independent senators who had voted for Klaus, Liana Janáčková and Jana Juřenčáková, stated they had been threatened, and the ČSSD senator Evžen Snítilý who left the session in the third round of the first attempt, stated he wanted to leave the party (an was soon expelled). Reportedly, Snítilý suffered from threats and blackmail over his StB
STB
STB is an acronym that can mean:* Sacrae Theologiae Baccalaureus – Bachelor of Sacred Theology* Set-top box – a television device that converts signals to viewable images* Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP -- a law firm...
past.
The three nominees were Švejnar, Klaus and Bobošíková. Bobošíková was nominated by 17 KSČM deputies, but the Communists stated they would be inclined to support Švejnar under certain conditions.
Klaus' chances to be reelected were boosted when Snítilý announced he would vote for Klaus prior to the session. Surprisingly, in his address on 15 February 2008 before the joint session of parliament, Klaus stated he supported holding the presidential elections as public ballots and not as secret ballots as he demanded before. Klaus also delivered a significantly more nationalistic and euroskeptical speech than the week previously. This was taken as an indication that he knew he had the votes to win and no longer needed to moderate his feelings.
Bobošíková withdrew her candidacy shortly after the debate and before the first round of voting citing a lack of support for her, boosting Švejnar's chances. The Communists then announced they would employ the same tactic as in the first attempt: They will support Švejnar in the first and second rounds, but abstain in the third round, thus trying to make the second attempt at electing a president a failure, as well.
After more debate on the method of voting, the ODS accepted holding the vote with public ballots again. Green MP Olga Zubová was absent from the session due to a surgical intervention she had some time ago.
In the first round of voting, Klaus received 141 votes, just enough for his reelection in the third round. The second round saw similar results, but also a drop in support for Švejnar by the Communists. Prior to the third round, it was reported that Minister for Human Rights and Minorities Džamila Stehlíková
Džamila Stehlíková
Džamila Stehlíková , née Almaskyzy is a Kazakh-born Czech politician and a doctor. She is an active member of the Strana zelených and from 2007 to 2009, Stehlíková was the Minister for Human Rights and Minorities.Stehlíková is a naturalized Czech citizen by marriage...
from the Greens was at the missing MP Zubová's residence, likely trying to get her to show up for the third round to improve Švejnar's chances.
In the third round Klaus was re-elected as President of the Czech Republic.
In his acceptance speech Klaus talked of wanting to be 'President of all Czechs' and his staff spend the following days trying to convey the idea of a nation happy with the outcome. In reality, the fact that his re-election depended on 3 Social Democrats who left their party in deeply suspicious circumstances has thrown a large cloud over what he had hoped would be more a coronation than a re-election.
| Round | Václav Klaus | Jan Švejnar | Jana Bobošíková | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deputies Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic The Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of the Czech Republic. The seat of the Chamber of Deputies is situated in palaces in Malá Strana, Prague.... |
Senators Senate of the Czech Republic The Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic , usually referred to as Senát, is the upper chamber of the Parliament of the Czech Republic... |
Deputies Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic The Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of the Czech Republic. The seat of the Chamber of Deputies is situated in palaces in Malá Strana, Prague.... |
Senators Senate of the Czech Republic The Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic , usually referred to as Senát, is the upper chamber of the Parliament of the Czech Republic... |
||
| 1st | 93 | 48 | 104 | 32 | retracted candidacy |
| 141 | 136 | ||||
| 2nd | 93 | 48 | 94 | 32 | |
| 141 | 126 | ||||
| 3rd | 93 | 48 | |||
| 141 | 111 | ||||