More than 80 percent of Czechs say direct presidential election was good step

Roughly four-fifths of Czechs consider the country’s introduction of direct presidential elections this year a good step, a new poll by the STEM agency suggests. Some 80 percent of Czechs supported the idea since the end of the 1990s. In the past the Czech head-of-state was elected by a joint-session of both houses in Parliament. According to the survey, the number in favour of direct elections has since grown to 83 percent. Czechs in the second round chose between two final candidates, Miloš Zeman and Karel Schwarzenberg; Mr Zeman won by some 500,000 votes – his inauguration is in nine days. Two-thirds of those queried agreed the election process had been dignified. The poll was conducted at the beginning of February.

Author: Jan Velinger