Current Affairs Controversy at the eleventh hour: some deputies propose electing president by acclamation
On February 8th the two houses of Parliament will convene to elect a new head of state and the days leading up to the vote are marked by increased tension on the Czech political scene as deputies and senators make up their minds who they are going to support – the current president Václav Klaus or his sole rival, Czech-American economics professor Jan Švejnar. Moreover political parties are now caught up in a heated debate as to whether the vote should take place by secret ballot or by the open raising of hands.
Václav Klaus, photo: CTK
In the Czech Republic the election of the head of state is essentially a
political decision. Although the president has no real powers and
decision-making is in the hands of the government and parliament, each
party wants to have its own person at Prague Castle. Since none of them are
strong enough to achieve this on their own, the process is inevitably
accompanied by a great deal of horse-trading behind the scenes and, since
the president is elected by secret ballot, nothing is certain. The
leaderships of political parties issue a recommendation but it is up to
each deputy and senator to make the final decision. The Christian
Democrats, who have come under fire for allegedly attempting to trade their
votes in return for an agreement on the restitution of church property,
have now suggested that Parliament should break with tradition and vote by
acclamation in order to make the vote more transparent. Lubomír Zaorálek
of the Social Democrats says his party may support such a proposal:
“As things are, the process is not transparent. We suspect there is much horse trading going on behind the scenes and we feel that in this case the call for a public vote – a vote by acclamation – is justified.”
Jan Švejnar, photo: CTK
The ruling Civic Democratic Party which is backing its own Václav Klaus,
and has sought support for him among Christian Democrat and Communist
deputies, says this is not a good idea. The Civic Democrats could easily
overturn such a proposal in the Senate where they have a majority, but the
Christian and Social Democrats could push it through in the lower house.
Although theoretically it is possible for one house to vote by acclamation
and the other by secret ballot Vojtěch Cepl, a legal expert on
constitutional matters and indeed one of the authors of the constitution,
says this would not be a good idea:
Vojtěch Cepl
“The president is elected at a joint session of the two houses of
Parliament, and I think that in such a case common sense dictates that they
should agree on how they want to vote.”
Some analysts note that a failure to reach agreement on this important point could threaten the vote itself, but politicians say they will secure a dignified vote next Friday, even if it means making a last minute compromise on how the vote should take place. Meanwhile, the two rivals for the post have taken turns visiting individual party groups in the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate in an attempt to win over more supporters but both are saying they want nothing to do with the horse-trading going on behind the scenes. President Klaus’ secretary Ladislav Jakl told reporters that the president had no information how he stood in terms of support, while Prof. Švejnar himself asked deputies and senators to forget about horse-trading and vote for “the better man”.
