From Havel to Babiš: Jiří Pehe on Czech elections in new Czechast episode

As Czechs prepare to vote again in the elections for the Chamber of Deputies, Czechast takes a look back at 35 years of free elections. Host Vít Pohanka speaks with Jiří Pehe, political scientist, commentator, and former adviser to Václav Havel. Together, they trace the milestones that have shaped Czech democracy since 1989.

Jiří Pehe|Photo: Luboš Vedral, Czech Radio

When Czechs head to the polls for the Chamber of Deputies, they are casting the most important votes in the country’s political system. From these elections comes a new government, and the results have shaped the nation’s course ever since the fall of communism. With this in mind, Czechast invited Jiří Pehe — political scientist, commentator, former director of New York University in Prague, and once the chief political adviser to Václav Havel — to reflect on the key moments of the past 35 years.

The early 1990s: new parties, new directions

According to Pehe, the first free elections in 1990 were largely a straightforward contest between an anti-communist coalition and the remnants of the old regime. But two years later, the situation was more complex.

Elections in 1990|Photo: Czech Television

“I think the elections in 1992 were in a way more interesting than in 1990,” Pehe explains. “In 1990, it was a broad anti-communist coalition against the communists, and the results were what we had expected. But in 1992, the question was whether Václav Klaus and his allies would actually be able to form a majority government.”

That outcome opened the door to Klaus leading the Czech part of the federation through the breakup of Czechoslovakia.

The late 1990s: missed opportunities and the opposition agreement

The 1998 elections produced a tense situation, Pehe recalls. A potential coalition of Social Democrats, Christian Democrats, and the Freedom Union could have formed a government under Josef Lux, but the plan never materialized.

Václav Klaus and Miloš Zeman|Photo: Czech Television

“There was a real possibility to form a government of the Social Democrats, the Christian Democrats, and the Union of Freedom,” Pehe says. “To his credit, Miloš Zeman privately said he was willing to step down as prime minister in favor of Josef Lux, provided his party got the appropriate number of ministries. But in the end, this fell through, and so we were stuck with the opposition agreement — which I think was one of the early disasters for Czech post-1989 politics.” That “opposition agreement” between Zeman and Klaus defined Czech politics for years to come, fueling public cynicism about party deals behind closed doors.

The presidency: a powerful player

Beyond the parliamentary arithmetic, Pehe stresses the importance of the Czech presidency. The office, he argues, carries far more weight than the constitution suggests.

TGM, first president of Czechoslovakia|Photo: Barbora Kvapilová, repro Zámek Lány 600 let historie/Český rozhlas

“What’s really important is the role of the presidency,” Pehe notes. “It is a very strong institution in the Czech Republic, boosted by the traditions of the First Republic, where the presidency was created almost as a king’s court, building on the legacy of the Habsburg Empire. So the president had a lot of informal influence, but also powers that made him a very significant player — and this was carried into the post-1989 period, when presidents played roles much bigger than constitutionally they should have.”

Looking back — and forward

Czech Parliament - Chamber of Deputies|Photo: Michaela Danelová, Czech Radio

From the anti-communist enthusiasm of 1990 to the rise of new movements like ANO in the 2010s, Czech elections have repeatedly shifted the balance of power. As voters prepare once again to decide the composition of the Chamber of Deputies, the lessons of past decades remind us how fragile, yet resilient, democratic politics can be.

Listen to the full interview with Jiří Pehe in the latest episode of Czechast, available wherever you get your podcasts.

Czech elections since 1990: a snapshot

• 1990 – First free elections after communism. Civic Forum wins overwhelmingly; Communists reduced to a minority.
• 1992 – Václav Klaus’s Civic Democrats win, steering the Czech lands through the breakup of Czechoslovakia.
• 1996 – First elections in an independent Czech Republic; no outright majority, signaling a fragmented party system.
• 1998 – Social Democrats win, but instead of a broad coalition, they strike the controversial “opposition agreement” with Civic Democratic Party (ODS).
• 2002 – Social Democrats stay strong; Communists reach their post-1989 peak with 18.5% of the vote.
• 2006 – A deadlock election with 100 seats for each major bloc, leading to months of political paralysis.
• 2010 – New parties emerge, shaking up the system; traditional dominance of ČSSD and Civic Democratic Party begins to weaken.
• 2013 – Andrej Babiš’s ANO Party enters parliament, marking the rise of a new populist force.
• 2017 – ANO Party dominates with nearly 30% of the vote; traditional left collapses; Pirates and Freedom and Direct Democracy Party (SPD) enter.
• 2021 – Opposition coalitions Together (SPOLU) and Pirates+Mayors and Independents (STAN) defeat ANO Party, forming the current government.