No candidate elected in first presidential election

Members of both chambers of Parliament have failed to elect a new Czech president. Voting in the third round of the election took place on Saturday, with the incumbent Václav Klaus receiving 139 votes – falling just one vote short of re-election. While Mr Klaus was backed in all three rounds by the ruling Civic Democrats as well as some Christian Democratic and independent lawmakers, his challenger Jan Švejnar was supported by the Greens and the opposition Social Democrats. The Communists decided not to back either of the two candidates in the final round, making it impossible for either to attain a majority. Lawmakers in the election were choosing between 66-year-old Václav Klaus, with almost twenty years experience in Czech politics, and Jan Švejnar – a US-based economist and relative newcomer to the Czech political scene.

Author: Jan Richter