Greens want referendum on direct presidential elections

Head of the Greens Martin Bursík has said that his party has drafted plans for a referendum which would allow Czechs to decide on how their president should be elected. Currently the president is elected indirectly – by lawmakers in the Czech Senate and Lower House. According to Mr Bursík, the majority of lawmakers favour switching to direct presidential election, which would leave the decision up to the electorate. Mr Bursík said, however, that up until now, parliamentarians have been unable to agree on how to switch from indirect to direct presidential elections. He said that he was raising the issue now so that something could potentially be done before the end of the government’s term in office in 2010.