Klaus presidency bid wins unanimous support from Civic Democrat MPs

Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek opened the Civic Democrats’ conference on Saturday morning by announcing that all of the party’s deputies and senators had pledged their support for Vaclav Klaus in next year’s presidential elections. Mr Klaus, the current president, who is seeking a second term in office, responded to the unanimous support of his party by saying that this proved that he had fulfilled the mandate he was set for his first term in office. Mr Klaus is currently the only candidate for next year’s presidential elections, but it is thought that economist Jan Svejnar may well run against him, should he gain enough support from other political parties. The ruling Civic Democrats have a total of 122 representatives in the Upper and Lower Houses of Parliament. To win the presidential election, Mr Klaus would need the vote of all of these representatives, as well as 19 other MPs.