Heads of parties in parliament to discuss direct presidential election

The heads of the five parties in parliament are scheduled to meet next week to discuss the terms under which a popular vote could be introduced to elect Czech presidents. Those terms include also the powers of Czech heads of state. The chairmen of the Civic Democrats, the Social Democrats, the Communist Party, the Christian Democrats and the Green Party will be discussing the matter at a conference at the Senate on Wednesday. Czech heads of state are now elected by both houses of parliament. The parties in the current ruling coalition pledged in the coalition agreement signed in January this year they would launch a debate on the issue.