Czech Republic - News Archive

Czech president appoints new PM

Posted: 06/28/2010
Czech President Vaclav Klaus appoints centre-right Civic Democrat Petr Necas as the country's new prime minister.

Read full story. Source: BBC News | Europe | World Edition

Protest Vote Marks Czech Elections

Posted: 05/29/2010
Parliamentary elections on May 28-29 are likely to give a center-right coalition the largest governing mandate in country history. Although the left-of-center Social Democrats (CSSD) captured more votes than any other party, their seat total is smaller than the combined totals of the right-of-center Civic Democrats (ODS); Tolerance, Responsibility, Prosperity (TOP 09); and Public Affairs (VV) parties. These three parties now control a combined 118 out of 200 seats. Professor Andrew ROBERTS of Northwestern University noted that the amount of preferential votes cast nearly doubled from the 2006 elections. The Czech Republic's proportional representation system lets voters express preferences for individual candidates within party lists. In 2006, 1.9 million voters cast preferential votes, compared to 3.7 million in this election. ROBERTS interprets this as indication that voters, displeased with the parties' leaders, are looking for fresh faces.

Source: ElectionGuide

Klaus Won't Sign EU Treaty Despite Senate Approval

Posted: 05/06/2009
The Czech president said he would not sign the treaty for now due to its rejection by Irish voters last year and an expected court challenge in the Czech Republic.

Read full story. Source: Rferl.org

EU treaty clears Czech parliament

Posted: 05/06/2009
Czech senators vote to approve the EU's Lisbon Treaty, bringing its eventual ratification a step closer.

Read full story. Source: BBC News | World | UK Edition

Czech Party Leaders Agree to Early Election

Posted: 03/29/2009
A political crisis created by a no-confidence vote forces the leader's hands, although no date has been set.

Read full story. Source: NYT > Europe

Czech Party Leaders Agree to Early Election

Posted: 03/29/2009
A political crisis created by a no-confidence vote forces the leader's hands, although no date has been set.

Read full story. Source: Europe - International Herald Tribune

Czech Prime Minister Resigns Amid No-Confidence Vote, Early Elections Possible

Posted: 03/27/2009
Czech Prime Minister Mirek TOPOLANEK resigned on Thursday, cementing the collapse of his government after it lost a no-confidence vote two days earlier. Both the outgoing prime minister and the leader of his opposition, Jiri PAROUBEK, have proposed early elections as a way out of the country's current political crisis. However, unlike in many other parliamentary democracies, early elections do not automatically follow a no-confidence vote in the Czech Republic. According to the country’s constitution, Czech President Vaclav KLAUS must now appoint a new premier to organize a new government. While, KLAUS has not made any comment yet as to whom he intends to name as the new Prime Minister, he has indicated that any new government must have majority support in parliament. But, since majority support would require agreement between TOPOLANEK's Civic Democrats (ODS) and PAROUBEK's Social Democrats (CSSD), such an arrangement seems unlikely. Furthermore, in order to hold early elections, which both the former government and opposition seem to favor, both sides would have to come to agreement on the date in order to pass the legally required legislation for early elections. If, however, three efforts to form a new government fail, the Czech constitution gives President KLAUS the power to dissolve parliament and call for an early vote. The government's fall comes days before a visit to Prague by US President Barak Obama, and also comes in the middle of�the country's 6-month EU presidency, casting doubt on the ability of the Czech Republic to lead the European Union during the current global financial crisis.

Source: ElectionGuide

Czech leader loses vote of confidence

Posted: 03/24/2009
The government lost a no confidence vote, midway through its E.U. presidency, casting doubt on the country's ability to shepherd the world's biggest trading bloc during a time of economic crisis.

Read full story. Source: Europe - International Herald Tribune

Czech leader wins party vote

Posted: 12/10/2008
Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek won a new mandate to lead the governing Civic Democrat Party on Sunday, in a vote confirming him as the head of government before the Czech Republic assumes the European Union presidency next month.

Read full story. Source: Europe - International Herald Tribune

Czech government seen losing vote, debate starts

Posted: 10/03/2006
PRAGUE (Reuters) - The Czech parliament began a session on Tuesday which will lead to a confidence vote expected to topple Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek's minority cabinet.

Read full story. Source: Reuters: International

Civic Democrat leader named Prime Minister

Posted: 08/17/2006
Czech Prime Minister Jiri PAROUBEK resigned on August 16, less than three months after elections to the country's parliament concluded with a stalemate in June. Prime Minister PAROUBEK's Social Democrat party won 74 seats and together with 26 communist allies, obtained control of exactly half of the parliament's lower chamber. The other half of the chamber was occupied by 81 Civic Democrats and their centrist allies, the Christian Democrats and Greens, with 13 and 6 seats respectively. Civic Democrat leader Mirek TOPOLANEK, who is replacing outgoing Prime Minister PAROUBECK, has 30 days to win a vote of confidence in the parliament for his minority government.

Source: ElectionGuide

New centre-right Czech PM named

Posted: 08/16/2006
Czech Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek resigns, two-and-a-half months after inconclusive elections.

Read full story. Source: BBC News | World | UK Edition

Czech PM resigns, president to name Topolanek

Posted: 08/16/2006
PRAGUE (Reuters) - Czech leftist Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek formally resigned on Wednesday, paving the way for rightist Mirek Topolanek to take over in a step toward ending a stalemate that resulted from an inconclusive June election.

Read full story. Source: Reuters: International

Czech MPs fail to break deadlock

Posted: 07/21/2006
Czech lawmakers fail to end political deadlock - nearly seven weeks after polls ended in a hung parliament.

Read full story. Source: BBC News | World | UK Edition

Klaus says will not accept Czech PM's resignation

Posted: 06/30/2006
Paroubek said this week he would step down on July 3 amid a political stalemate that followed a June 2-3 election, which was won by the rightist Civic Democrats.

Read full story. Source: Reuters: International

Czech Coalition talks to form new government

Posted: 06/09/2006
Coalition talks are in progress to form a new government following the June 2-3 parliamentary vote, which led to an inconclusive result in the Chamber of Deputies. The opposition Civic Democrats won a decisive victory with 81 seats, but even with the 19 additional seats secured by their centrist allies – the Christian Democrats (13) and the Greens (6) – these are not sufficient to form a majority. The combined total of 100 seats won by the three opposition parties represents exactly half of the 200-seat Chamber. The other half was secured by the ruling Social Democrats with 74 seats and their allies in the Communist Party with 26 seats.

Source: ElectionGuide

Czech leftists demand key post

Posted: 06/07/2006
PRAGUE (Reuters) - The Czech ruling leftist Social Democrats said on Wednesday they will demand the post of parliamentary speaker after they lost a weekend election but won enough votes to block the right-wing from forming a majority.

Read full story. Source: Reuters: International

Czech right starts government talks

Posted: 06/06/2006
PRAGUE (Reuters) - Leaders of three Czech centrist and right-wing parties started initial talks on forming a government on Tuesday under the cloud of an election stalemate that will take weeks or even months to clear.

Read full story. Source: Reuters: International

Czechs in new coalition struggle

Posted: 06/05/2006
Czech leaders face tough talks to form a new coalition government after inconclusive elections.

Read full story. Source: BBC News | World | UK Edition

Czech right to start govt talks after unclear vote

Posted: 06/05/2006
PRAGUE (Reuters) - Czech President Vaclav Klaus asked the rightist opposition on Monday to begin talks on forming a new government as the country looked for a way out of the stalemate produced by the weekend's election.

Read full story. Source: Reuters: International

Czechs vote in close-run election

Posted: 06/02/2006
Czechs are electing a new parliament after a bitter campaign marked by mud-slinging and a punch-up.

Read full story. Source: BBC News | World | UK Edition

Czech Republic Announces Results of EU Referendum

Posted: 06/16/2003
On June 13-14, voters went to the polls to vote in a referendum on the country’s membership into the European Union. According to the results released by the Statistical Office, about 55.18% of the country’s 8,259,525 voters participated in the referendum, with 77.33% of the votes in favor and 22.67% against the integration. The Czech Republic was the sixth candidate state to hold a referendum regarding its membership in the EU.

Source: ElectionGuide

Czech Republic Parliament Approves Bill Favoring Referendum on EU

Posted: 04/21/2003
On April 17, members of the upper house approved a bill recommending the country should hold an EU referendum. The bill recommended that the Czech Republic hold a plebiscite to ask voters whether the country should accept membership within the European Union. The bill was already approved by the lower house, and requires approval by President Vaclav KLAUS. 

Source: ElectionGuide

Czech Republic's Parliament Convenes Again to Elect President

Posted: 03/03/2003
On February 28, members of both the Chamber of Deputies and Senate convened for a third time to elect a new president. After three rounds of elections, former Premier Vaclav KLAUS of the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) won of the office of the presidency with 142 votes in the lower chamber and all 81 votes from the Senate. Opponent Jan SOKOL managed to secure only 124 votes from the lower chamber.  KLAUS will be inaugurated as president of the Czech Republic on March 7, one month after former president Vaclav HAVEL stepped down from power on February 2.

Source: ElectionGuide

Czech Republic Announces Preliminary Results of Presidential Election

Posted: 01/21/2003
Members of the Czech Republic’s parliament were unable to elect a successor to outgoing president Vaclav HAVEL on January 15. According to preliminary results, Vaclav KLAUS of the Civic Democratic Party secured 123 votes from both the Senate and Chamber of Deputies while Petr PITHART of the Christian and Democratic Union (KDU-CSL) secured about 55 votes. Both men advanced to the second round of elections where KLAUS secured 109 seats and PITHART 89 seats , while in the third round KLAUS and PITHART secured 113 and 84 votes respectively.   In order for a candidate to be elected president, they have to win a majority in both the Senate and Chamber of Deputies.  With HAVEL’s presidency due to end on February 2, the government will meet on January 24th in another  attempt to elect a successor, this time between KLAUS and former prime minister Milos ZEMAN contesting the presidency.

Source: ElectionGuide

Czech Republic Announces Results for Parliamentary Elections

Posted: 06/18/2002
The Czech Social Democratic Party (CSSD) won 70 seats in the Chamber of Deputies election on June 14-15, 2002, short of an outright majority. The Civic Democratic Party (ODS) won 58 seats, the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSCM) won 41, and the Coalition won 31.

Source: ElectionGuide

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